


A Guy Named Kanto

by Ficsandmusings



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Background Poly, Canon Compliant, Denial of Feelings, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Gap Filler, Gen, Polyamory, Post-Canon, Pre-Canon, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-07-18 10:49:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7312018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ficsandmusings/pseuds/Ficsandmusings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look at Toph's life when she unexpectedly finds out that she's pregnant (for the first time)—denial can do that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Injury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph gets hurt on the job, but the healer's diagnosis is not what she expected.

It wasn’t until she was in mid-air that Toph had a moment to reflect on her choices. Was the criminal smart enough to be leading her towards a trap? It seemed unlikely; she and her squad had descended on him downtown, an area too well-populated and patrolled for any triad to gain footing, even now. And yet, he ran from them too easily, as if he had known what to expect. But it was too late to go back.

She landed, feeling the earth soften beneath her toes as she reoriented herself. Bunzo was just rounding the corner to her right; only three of her metalbenders were still in pursuit, a good fifty yards behind her. To Toph’s annoyance, the ostrich-horse cart she jumped over had swerved off the road where it now sat askew, the driver stirring in her seat. _Not my fault_ , she told herself, vaulting forward to continue the chase. _I cleared it by half a foot_.

Bunzo was halfway down the next street by the time she turned, weaving in and out of a dizzying crowd. Toph knew it would be faster going if she simply bent a mound beneath her feet to ride on top of, but she couldn’t risk injuring any citizens. Not after last time…

Instead, she had no choice but to follow her target’s path. She spun to narrowly avoid bowling down a woman holding hands with a toddler and accidentally slammed her shoulder into a burly figure in the process. He fell to the ground on his bottom. “Police, clear the way!” she shouted, still running. The impact had made her head spin. She stumbled off the road and braced herself against a building, catching her breath. She could feel Bunzo taking yet another turn. He was hardly fast, and either too panicked or too stupid to use his firebending for a boost.

Toph shook her head and continued her own run. She gave chase for another two blocks, her breathing becoming strangely ragged. Her stomach seemed to be roiling as well. As much as she enjoyed the usual direction her sparring sessions with Sokka, she wondered if perhaps she needed to increase the intensity of the actual training component.

Luckily, the next turn Bunzo took led to an emptier street. Toph wasted no time bending herself off the ground, where she proceeded to use her metal cables to propel herself forward even faster. When she landed once again, she could tell that she had nearly caught up. He threw himself at the opening to an alley, perhaps hoping there would be a building he could hide in.

There was not. Only shut doors and a wooden fence that blocked any hope of his escape. Toph quickly stomped the ground to survey the scene; there was a fire escape ladder that hung close to the fence, but Bunzo seemed to be frozen. Then, in one quick motion, he crouched down and made to sweep his leg out.

She had sparred with the Fire Lord enough times to know what was coming. One well placed kick to the ground and she would be high above the blast, while also positioning herself at the perfect vantage to attack with her metal cuffs, shackling him. Yet somehow when Toph moved her foot against the earth, it rose up before her, as though someone else were bending it. She was thrown off-kilter, unable to catch herself. It wasn’t until her back slammed into the ground that she felt the heat rushing towards her. Instinctively, she raised her hands to cover her face, no time to do anything else.

The pain was immediate; a searing and stinging so intense she cried out. For a moment, she forgot herself—where she was, what she was doing. Then her senses came back all at once. Still sprawled on the ground, Toph moved to touch ground with the sole of her foot. She could feel Bunzo landing on the opposite side of the fence, as well as two pairs of footsteps running towards her.

“Chief Beifong!”

“Go after him!” she yelled. “I’m fine.”

They did not. How reached her first, putting a strong hand under her arm. “You need to go to a healer,” he said.

“Will you get off me? Bunzo’s over the fence already.” Yein reached the pair and put her own hand under Toph’s other arm. The two lifted in unison. Toph could feel herself flushing in humiliation. “Great, I’m standing. Can you catch our lead?”

“He’s long-gone,” Yein said. “We can’t sense him as well as you, and you’re hurt.”

Toph held up a hand, barely able to feel it. “I’m fine,” she repeated, trying to remember how to flex her fingers. That was a mistake. The sharp pain returned, and she could feel something oozing down her arm. The ground began to spin again.

“We have to take you to a healer. Now,” How insisted.

Speaking took an effort. “We’ve been staking out Bunzo for a month now. And where’s Ju?”

She felt Yein sigh. “She fell behind. Please, Chief, I’ll scale the fence and see if there were any witnesses on the other side. But let How take you. The sooner a healer looks at that, the better.”

“Fine.” How made to take her arm again, but she shook him off. “I’m not an invalid, I can walk.” She could feel pain in every step traveling up her back, but it was nothing compared to the throbbing in her hands.

The ride the to healing hut was quick enough, though she felt each bump in the road through her spine. She held her hands out in front of her, doing her best not to bend them at all; a queer tingling sensation seemed to be spreading from her palms. The healing hut was no “hut” in truth—just a one-story building that sat twenty blocks from the center of downtown. Katara had suggested keeping the name to make the transition to the city as smooth as possible for the waterbenders who worked there. As far as Toph could tell, it had worked.

The man behind the front desk led Toph to a curtained room immediately, where she was directed to sit in a half-reclined chair while he ran off to fetch a healer. How had opted to stay in the waiting room, which she was grateful for. Climbing into the chair with her hands as they were proved no simple task, especially given that her feet needed to leave the ground to do so. After a few minutes of awkward, undignified struggles, she at last managed to lean back against the thin cushions, utterly unable to “see” anything.

No sooner had she assumed her pose then she heard light footsteps enter the room. “Chief Beifong?” a soft voice called. Toph placed it as belonging to a woman of at least sixty. She took another few steps before tutting under her breath softly. “Well, let’s take care of those hands first.”

“Eh, who needs them?” she answered, her head hurting too much to form a proper joke. Had Sokka been there he would have thought of something more clever. _They do come in ‘handy’ I suppose_ , she could almost hear him saying. She laughed to herself, though it was fortunately drowned out by the healer setting a basin down on the table next to the chair.

She gently guided Toph’s arms towards it. “Now this may sting a bit, dear.”

“I can handle it.”

Whatever Toph had been expecting, what she felt as her hands were submerged was not it. The agony was instantaneous, like knives were slowly being dragged under her skin. Yet before she could even cry out, the sensation changed. The water became impossibly cool, causing a numbness to spread up to her shoulders. As it warmed again, the pain and stinging was replaced with a gentle pressure, almost as though someone were holding her hands. Her head felt full, and she wondered if she might lose consciousness from the relief of it all.

“I’m Ahnah, by the way,” she said conversationally. “Nilak says you fell?”

“I tripped. Earthbending accident, that’s all.”

“Did you hurt anything besides your hands?”

Even lying down, the soothing water passing between her fingers, Toph could feel twinges in her back. Though she had suffered worse in practice, she was sure. “I don’t think so.”

The pressure up her arms faded, the water suddenly feeling still. Anhah pulled Toph’s hands out of the basin, turning them over to examine. “Well burns are easy, at least,” she commented. “But if you don’t mind, could you remove your armor so I can make sure everything else is alright?”

“How long will this take?”

The healer gave what sounded like an amused chuckle. “Not long, I promise. We just want to be sure.” She set the basin on the floor.

Toph sat up and quickly shot her arms forward, bending her armor open to reveal only a sleeveless undershirt. The metal suit came flying off and crashed to the floor a few feet from the foot of the chair. She heard Anhah gasp, which she found bizarrely funny. The healer recovered quickly enough though, gently guiding Toph to lean back once more. She had bent water from the basin around her hands, and took several minutes running it down the length of Toph’s body before asking her to lie on side, so that she might inspect her back.

Toph did as she was told with some difficulty; if only it was a chair where her feet could still touch the ground. Still, the sensation was somewhat relaxing.

“Do you fall often, dear?” Anhah asked solicitously. “This is your first visit here.”

She thought back to alley, the way the ground had felt like it moved. “Might have been dizzy.”

“Has that been a problem for you?”

“No..." Toph said slowly. “Well, I’ve been sick lately. Think I’m just still recovering.” For the past couple of weeks she had at least regained control of her stomach, though she still had odd, intense bouts of indigestion. But for the few months prior, not one day had seemed to pass where she could keep all her meals down. For two weeks she had told herself it was only a bug, but she at last admitted to herself that the stress of her job was probably getting to her. It couldn’t have been a coincidence that it was happening just as the reports of triad violence were becoming almost unbearable. _Bunzo would have cracked the case wide open_ , she thought bitterly.

“Yes, well, that’s normal enough,” the healer answered kindly, removing her hands for a moment. When she touched Toph again to guide her onto her back once more, the water was gone. “But you really should be taking it easy.”

Toph laughed. “I’ll take it easy when I want the city demolished.”

Anhah clicked her tongue. “I’m sure there’s someone else who can be on the ground while you’re expecting.”

“Expecting what?”

The healer remained silent for a moment. When she spoke again, something in her voice had changed. “Chief Beifong...you’re six months along.”

Toph gripped the side of her seat and sat up. She knew what the words meant, and yet... “Six months...” she repeated stupidly.

“You’re pregnant,” Anhah concluded, moving a hand to Toph’s lower abdomen as if to make the point. “I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”

She found it difficult to form words. Instead, she shook her head slowly. “I’ve been stressed. This is stress.”

“Didn’t you notice..." The healer let her voice trail off before trying again. “Have you been spotting this whole time? If so you’ll need immediate attention.”

Toph tried to remember the last time she bled, but her mind was blank. _How could I have been this stupid?_ “I don’t think so,” she managed.

“And you—you noticed your morning sickness, right?”

“I thought it was a bug,” she admitted.

Anhah touched her shoulder lightly. “Well, it does seem like it was unusually intense for you. I’m guessing you’ve lost weight? That may have made it difficult to tell, I suppose.”

Toph’s armor had felt heavier on her lately, though she doubted even weight loss was a reasonable enough excuse not to have noticed something growing inside of her for half a year. “I have.”

“And...have you felt the baby move? I’m sorry to pry, it just really is highly unusual not to know at this stage.” Anhah was trying her best, but Toph could still hear the judgement creeping into her voice.

“I have felt... something. I think. But I just assumed it was part of the same illness.”

“So you can’t say how frequently?”

She shook her head, her face growing hot.

“In that case,” Anhah said with a sigh, “we should consider this pregnancy high-risk. You definitely need to take precautions.” She withdrew her hand and Toph could hear her sit up in her own chair. “Don’t lift anything above ten pounds if you can help it, make sure you’re consuming lots of meat and dark greens, no substances...alcohol or pipe-weed or anything. And definitely limit physical activity. You shouldn’t be out in the field in your condition.”

Toph was gripping the arm of her chair so tight she wondered if it might snap. “I’ve been fine. Today was just a little too much, but I’ve been sparring—”

“Chief Beifong,” Anhah cut in sharply, “if you don’t take it easy, you could lose this baby.”

The impact of the words never seemed to reach her. She tried to imagine how she would feel if she did. _Relieved_. She pushed herself up and swung her legs to the side of the chair. “Alright, that’s a lot to consider,” she said dismissively.

“Wait, you’ll need a healer who specializes in prenatal care to check you out. We can set up an appointment today, if you’d like.”

“No,” Toph said jumping to the ground. It was slightly further than she had remembered, though the comfort of being able to sense the room again was worth the slight pain in her ankles from the landing. She bent her armor around her again, trying to ignore the headrush from all the sudden movement.

Anhah was on her feet. “I was going to go over your hands once more, too.”

“No, they’re great!” Toph insisted, flexing them faster than was entirely necessary. That brought a tingling sensation to her fingers, but otherwise she would never have been able to tell that they had been burned. She raced out of the room while the healer offered her futile protests.

How was still in the lobby, a magazine in hand. “You,” she barked, “get back to the station.”

He jumped out of his chair and offered what might have been a salute. “Are you alright?”

“Let me handle it, Dad,” she said sarcastically, striding towards the door. She was worried Anhah might try and catch up. _At least the Council pays for my healthcare_. The idea of receiving a bill for such a trip seemed almost cruel.

“Okay,” How answered with a nervous laugh. “Let’s go then.”

She pulled him outside before saying, “You’re going back alone. I uh...have a lead I need to follow up with.”

“Oh. Do you want the ostrich-horse then?”

“Steering it would be a neat trick," she said, waving a hand in front of her face. "Take it back to the station."

Toph remained on the sidewalk until How had left in the cart, just in case he had it in his mind to follow her. Then she began to walk towards the docks. The streets were busy, but no one troubled her. The area by the docks was usually full of visitors, with shipping merchants exchanging boxes on the wharves. It had seemed like yesterday that Toph’s triad investigation had taken her onto the more heavily-crewed boats. Could it really have been six months? The thought now made her feel sick.

She made her way to a smaller pier at the southern end of docks where a sailboat waited. “Chief Beifong!” a voice called from its deck.

It sounded familiar, no doubt an acolyte Toph had met before, but she had no memory of her. “Hello there,” she answered, trying not to sound awkward. “You waiting for someone, or can you take me over?”

“We can make the trip,” the acolyte confirmed. Toph heard her footsteps coming down the ramp. The acolyte then helped guide her back up it, onto the wooden boat.

Toph always found the ride to Air Temple Island irksome for that reason. It wasn’t a long enough trip that there were any seats on the deck, so she always had to content herself to stand gripping the railing, unsure who was coming and going before her. It had been several years since Aang had settled onto the island, and in that time she had gotten good at estimating how long it would take to reach it, though it never seemed to make it any better, no more than flying on Appa had ever been comfortable for her.

The trip proved to be worse than most others. There was almost no wind to speak of, which not only meant it would take longer than normal, but that all three acolytes onboard needed to row, leaving Toph completely alone. “Six months,” she mumbled to the wind. Had there truly been something inside of her for that long? The concept seemed strange. She touched her stomach as if hoping it would provide insight, but her metal armor felt as it always did beneath her fingertips.

She wondered if it had felt this alien to Katara, at least when she was carrying Bumi. It hadn’t seemed to; if anything, all three of her pregnancies had energized her. Even Aang’s night terrors during the late months of her pregnancy with Tenzin, which she had confided to Toph after one particularly restless week, hadn’t hurt her mood. Toph knew Katara certainly had worries of her own, yet she could feel a kind of glow about her each time.

All Toph had felt for the last few months had been exhaustion and illness. _What kind of monster is in here?_

Before she could consider her parasite further, she felt the rowing slow. The same acolyte came back over to where she was standing while the other two took care of tying the boat at the docks. Toph allowed herself to be led down the ramp. She thanked the acolyte and then turned to trudge up the path to the buildings. She was already halfway up when it occurred to her that Katara might not even be home. Aang would definitely be at a Council meeting; it was all he seemed to do anymore. But his wife’s schedule was more fickle. Even with a three-month-old, Katara didn’t like to stay idle long, though Toph supposed that her absence at the healing hut was a good sign.

She had barely reached the top of the path when she heard an excited voice call out, “Aunt Toph!”

Kya was running in her direction, as fast as her five-year-old legs could carry her. Toph laughed and scooped her up when she reached her, only then remembering the warning the healer had given. _Oh well, the damage is done. What happens, happens_. “What are you doing here?” Kya asked once Toph put her back down. “Is Daddy coming home early?”

“I doubt it. I need to talk to your mom.”

“She’s inside,” she answered, turning and skipping back towards the center of the island. Toph followed dutifully, trying to ignore how absurd their procession was. “I learned how to do the water whip!” she added.

“Not bad at all,” Toph said. “You’ll be able to take on Bumi pretty soon. Oh, speaking of...” As they drew near the practice yard, she could feel Bumi practicing his stances, his usual wooden sword in hand. Katara usually had to fight with him to remove it from his pants any time they’d leave the island. “Hey kid,” she called.

“I’m not allowed to fight him, Daddy said,” Kya told her in a low voice, as Bumi dropped his sword to run over.

“Aunt Toph! Can you bend a rock at my head? I’ve been practicing my rolls.”

Somehow Toph doubted that Aang would approve of that much more. In a different mood she might have done it anyway, but Bumi’s idea of practice was not something she wanted to test. “Maybe later.”

Bumi frowned, but then unceremoniously threw himself to the ground, where she felt him writhe around for a few seconds before slowly picking himself back up. “See?” he asked proudly. Kya giggled.

“Wish I could,” Toph quipped, waving her hand in front of her face. “Your uncle teach you that move?” She had seen him catch his boomerang in a dive before, though she found it hard to believe it was something he considered worth teaching a ten-year-old.

“No, but he taught me a warrior’s wolf yell. Want to hear?” Before she could answer, he tossed back his head and gave what might have been a howl. The noise was piercing and seemed to reverberate in Toph’s skull. Or had she already had a headache?

“Bumi,” Kya said, still laughing, “Mommy said you’re not supposed to do that without Daddy’s permission, in case the acolytes are meditating.”

“What, you going to tell on me?”

Kya stopped laughing and shoved him instead. “I won’t.”

“Meditation is boring anyway. Right, Aunt Toph? It’s just sitting.”

“It _is_ just sitting,” she confirmed.

Without warning, Bumi let out another howl, causing Kya to collapse on the ground in laughter. Toph brought a hand to her temple. “I think I’m going to—”

“Bumi!” A familiar voice called out. Toph felt Katara storming out of the nearby dormitory. “Tenzin _just_ fell asleep and now you disturbed him...oh! Toph!”

“He doesn’t look disturbed,” Bumi pouted as his mother came nearer.

He was right, Toph couldn’t help but think. Had it not been for his comment, she may not have placed the lump she sensed Katara carrying as his younger brother. So far, Tenzin had proven himself to be an unusually quiet baby, rarely crying, even before a meal. Toph had only witnessed it a couple of times, and even there, his cries seemed softer than she remembered Kya’s sounding. It was just as well; Aang was doing enough crying for all of them these days. Her friend claimed that he had named his son ‘Tenzin’ for his peaceful nature, but Toph knew he was scrutinizing every breath the baby drew, just as he had with the other two.

“What are you doing here?” Katara asked once she reached them. She put her free hand on Kya’s head. “Is everything alright?”

“I uh—had some free time,” Toph offered.

“You never have free time.”

“Because she’s catching bad guys! Pow!” Bumi clapped a hand over fist. Tenzin gave a small cough.

Katara sighed. “You two should go back to your training. It’s almost time for your history lessons with Amra anyway.”

Kya went skipping off without another word, but Bumi threw himself on the ground for another ‘roll.’ “I’m going to be a cop and catch the bad guys too!” he said from his knees.

“Bumi, your shirt,” Katara chided. “Don’t do that again.”

“I have others,” he protested. “It’s what I’m practicing!”

“Why don’t you practice what you were told to?”

Toph could feel her headache building. “Want me to put Tenzin down while you’re sorting this?” she offered.

“There’s nothing to sort,” Katara answered, though her tone suggested it was for her son’s benefit. “Bumi knows what he needs to practice, and he’s going to go do that, and the acolytes will tell me if he does anything else.”

“Is Uncle Sokka coming over tonight?” he asked, making no move to leave.

“I’m not sure. He might.”

“Because I want him to show me that two-handed slash again.”

“Well unless you _practice_ now, he’s not going to show you anything.”

“What?” Bumi exclaimed, suddenly sounding on the brink of tears. “But...but…”

“Bumi, you don’t need to argue. Just go do what I’m asking,” Katara said, sounding exasperated. That finally made him turn and run off, though Toph had the sneaking suspicion that once they were indoors, he would go back to tumbling on the ground again.

“It’s relentless,” Toph said with a laugh as they walked towards the building.

Katara sighed again. “Bumi has a lot of energy. Some days it’s easier to get him to focus it than others.”

 _I didn’t just mean Bumi_ , she thought. “You must be tired.”

She slid the door open and let Toph walk ahead of her before answering. “I’m fine. Tenzin’s such an easy baby. He even goes back down right away after his feeding in the middle of the night; that helps.” She kissed the crown of his head, as if that emphasized her point.

“Yeah, but is Twinkle Toes helping too?” Toph asked as they entered the master bedroom. There was a baby hammock in the corner of the room, though Katara instead opted to sit in one of the upholstered chairs with Tenzin still in her arms.

“He does what he can,” Katara answered, while Toph took her own seat. “It’s—It’s hard for him, I know. There’s so much on his shoulders.”  

It sounded like something Katara had likely been telling herself for some time. “I guess the Council _is_ always busy,” she offered, unsure how else to respond.

Tenzin gave another small cough and Toph heard Katara kiss him again. “He keeps me going,” she said, wanly. “I’m sure in a month or two things will calm down.”

 _At least this baby is manageable_ , Toph thought. She wondered what the odds of her soul-sucking parasite turning out the same were. Her face must have betrayed something because Katara leaned forward slightly. “So why are you here? You’re never off the clock this early. Is something going on?”

“I... I had an accident at work,” she started, searching for the words.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Toph thought about mentioning the burns first, to explain why she had gone to a healer. Or maybe opening with her fall. Was it worth explaining who Bunzo was? “I’m pregnant,” she blurted out instead.

Katara sat up straighter. “What?!”

 _Well, I guess that’s that_. “Yup, I’m pregnant.”

“I… You’re… Is this from the accident?” she asked, her voice suddenly grave. “Toph, tell me what happened.”

It took a moment for her to realize what Katara was implying. “Oh no... No. I’ve been pregnant for six months. I just fainted today from it, that’s all.”

“Six months? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Toph shrugged. “I didn’t know until today. I went to a healer after my fall.”

Katara leaned back in her chair. “How is that possible? You didn’t notice that you weren’t…?”

“Guess I just didn’t think about it.”

“But Toph, you’re normally so in-tune with yourself. You have to be.”

She squirmed in her seat. “I knew something was off, but I just thought I had a stomach bug. Or stress or something. I’ve been losing weight, you know.”  It almost sounded reasonable when told together.

“I suppose...” Katara shifted in her chair, ignoring a small gurgle from Tenzin. “But...wait. Who’s the father?” There was an urgency in her voice.

“Don’t worry, it’s not—you don’t know him.”

“You’re sure?”

Toph thought back to her ship inspections and laughed. “Yeah, _I_ barely know him.”

Katara paused for a moment. “You’re not still together?”

Her laugh grew louder. “Nah, didn’t exactly...work out.” He had been nice enough, and she had made sure to make the most of his three days in the city, but since his ship departed she hadn’t given him a moment’s thought.

“But it’s only been six months,” she insisted.

“It wasn’t ever like that.” The last thing Toph needed was to romanticize the conception.

“Well, have you told him?” Katara asked, sounding confused.

“I came straight here.” Though _why_ she did that was beginning to escape her.

“You should go see him next. This is going to be a lot to take in.”

“Why? He’s not the one who’s pregnant.”

“Toph!” Katara scolded. “He’s going to be a father.”

Toph gave another shrug. “It’s not like we’re going to be raising this kid together.”

“You don’t even want to consider that?”

“Not really.” Kanto had been entertaining, strong in all the right places, but she wasn’t even positive he fully spoke the language. Their conversations had been limited to only a few words and that had suited her just fine.

“Well _I_ think he has a right to know.”

“Then by all means, keep telling the fathers of your children,” Toph said sardonically, her annoyance rising. She heard Katara scoff, but didn’t care. “I’m the one dealing with it, not him.”

For a minute neither woman spoke, but then Katara sighed. “A baby is not an ‘it’, Toph. “Have you even considered what raising a child alone might be like? Is this what you want?”

“I...” Toph frowned. “I guess so. I mean, I didn’t really think about it.”

“Well, you need to. There’s options. And even at six months, you wouldn’t have to...” She paused. “Whatever you decide, it needs to happen sooner rather than later.”

Toph suddenly felt tears stinging her eyes. She wiped angrily at them with her palm. “I don't know, what should I do?” Her voice sounded small.

“Toph...” Katara said sympathetically. She then moved closer and extended Tenzin towards. “Here, hold him.”

Toph carefully took the bundle of breathing blankets. “What is this for? I’ve held him before, you know.”

“Just...consider him. Think about the responsibility. A baby is completely dependent on you at all times, and that can be really overwhelming, even for me.”

Tenzin wasn’t asleep, Toph could hear from his breathing, yet whatever point Karara was trying to make fell flat. He was barely moving, and the idea of such a lump overwhelming anybody seemed absurd. “I know what a baby is.”

“But you don’t,” Katara responded. “Until you have one, you don’t.”

Toph considered that, trying to connect the serene bundle in her arms to the thing growing inside her stomach. It did no good; it still seemed like some foreign, abstract concept. Is that how mothers were supposed to feel? She had a hunch Katara wouldn’t think so. “I’ll figure it out,” she said shaking her head. As if in response, Tenzin stirred and gave a hiccup.

Katara leaned over. “Was that...?”

“It was just a hiccup,” Toph told her.

She put a hand over her mouth. “I shouldn’t—” She stopped herself and sighed again. “It’s never easy, Toph.”

Tenzin made another small noise before turning ever so slightly. His warmth seemed to be penetrating through her armor. _Well when has anything ever been?_


	2. The Proposal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sokka formulates a plan.
> 
> ***  
>  **Original Characters**  
>  -Sakiko, Bojing, and Kulitak: members of the Council  
> -Bunzo: the criminal Toph failed to apprehend  
> 

“We’re talking about more than one hundred thousand yuans of damage,” Sakiko declared soberly. “We need businesses to view Republic City as an attractive home. If this sort of thing happens with any frequency, I don’t how any rational insurer would possibly offer policies—”

“Not everything’s about your numbers,” Sokka said, cutting across her. “We can’t worry about the insurance salesmen today.”

Toph heard the councilwoman scoff, but Kulitak spoke next. “Sokka’s right. I’m not sitting through another meeting on usury.”

“This is an entirely different issue!” she shot back.

Toph cleared her throat. Reporting to the Council was always bad enough, but she was not in the mood to stand through one of their fights.

Aang seemed to have heard her. “Sokka’s right. Sakiko, I understand what you’re saying, and we need to think about providing assurances to the business sector. But for today, all we can focus on is how to contain triad influence. We need to let Chief Beifong continue her report.”

Toph should have been appreciative, yet there was something in his voice that set her teeth on edge. It was the same tone he had used when he asked her if she was ‘up for speaking to the Council’ not an hour before. She knew he would never say anything directly unless she brought it up, but the unspoken worry was almost worse.

“My report was finished,” she said, moving a foot backwards towards the top step. “Lasya did her best to identify the men who had threatened her, but it’s not as if these are the type of people who would let themselves be seen.”

“And we’re sure it’s not just arson?” Bojing asked for the third time.

Sokka laughed. “Of course it was arson, that’s the point. But the timing of her refusal to pay for her ‘protection’ pretty much rules out the possibility that this was a random act.”

“Exactly,” Toph agreed. “Bunzo’s gone underground since we lost him two weeks ago, but we have a few leads connected to him, and my priority right now is continuing that stakeout.”

“You’re on the ground with this?” Aang asked quietly.

“I’ve put Guowei in charge of a task force,” she answered, trying not to let her annoyance show. The Council’s table curved around where she was standing, so each councilman had a close view of her.

“Maybe the task force is the problem, though,” Sokka said. She could feel him making wild gestures from his seat. “If they’re able to approach shopkeepers and have this much influence, there _have_ to be cops on their payroll.”

She turned towards the direction of his voice. “I can tell when people are lying, you know.”

“Yes, but even you can’t be everywhere at once. It could just be a bribe for one less circuit of a block or something.” He slammed both hands onto the table. “I think you should conduct a full investigation of your force.”

“I agree,” Bojing offered. _Of course you do_ , she thought. The Earth Kingdom’s councilman was the type to agree with anyone who spoke loudly enough.

“Sokka,” Aang said in a warning tone. “With all of To—Chief Beifong’s duties, do you really think this is a good idea right now? If she simply switched up patrolling schedules...”

“I don’t want to do that,” Toph interrupted. “I’ve put my team in areas where I trust them.”

“Besides, she _just_ said she can tell when someone’s lying. It’d be a breeze!” Sokka added.

It would not be. Announcing a full-scale investigation of her own department would ruin any potential leads, and only result in the triads finding someone else to prey on. She would have to go about it delicately and formulate a plan to keep the element of surprise on her end. That alone would require at least one or two officers that she could trust.

“Still,” Aang said, “the stakeout is already being given priority and adding this into the mix doesn’t seem like a good idea. The monks used to say that a mind divided—”

“Sokka’s right. This investigation needs to happen.” _Did the monks coddle their pregnant too?_

“But, are you _sure_ that’s for the best?” he asked pointedly.

Toph folded her arms. “Well if there is anyone on a triad payroll, that’d undermine the stakeouts anyway.”

“This is all well and good,” Sakiko commented, “but while this investigation is ongoing, there will be nothing changing in the short-term to alleviate the actual issue.”

“You’re looking at it backwards,” Sokka said. “The issue is how the triads have been able to be so effective, and that’s tied to the integrity of the Toph’s department. You want to treat the burn victims rather than look for the firebender.”

Sakiko made a disapproving noise. “Are you implying that the burn victims don’t matter?”

“That’s not what Sokka’s saying. The monks told me that if the stream isn’t flowing, one shouldn’t look to a pebble before a boulder. I think—”

Toph could take no more. “I don’t have time for any of your tortured analogies. This is my force, so it’s my decision; we’re doing this investigation.”

Sokka sat back happily, but she could feel Aang wringing his hands. “Well,” he said slowly, “if that’s your decision then so be it. But I feel it would be in your best interest to reduce your workload. I think, for now, you should either close your metalbending academy, or put someone else in charge of running it.”

“What?” she asked in disbelief. “That’s how we recruit new cops. And I’m the one who invented metalbending!” She could feel her stomach twisting and absentmindedly brought a hand to it before remembering it was just the baby moving, not indigestion. It had been doing that lately. Beneath her fingertips she felt a slight roundness that had formed over the last couple of weeks, although everywhere else she was still thinner than normal. Toph wondered if that was alright; she hadn’t managed to bring herself to a healer again since she had found out. She suddenly realized her hand was still on her stomach and dropped it.

No one seemed to take notice. “If you’re planning on investigating your force, shouldn’t new recruits be on hold anyway?” Kulitak asked, sounding bored.

It was Aang who answered him. “Exactly. It’s just temporary, Toph. A few months.” He seemed to put emphasis on the last word.

“The next few months won’t be a problem,” she told him through gritted teeth. “I can handle it.”

“Yeah Aang,” Sokka said, “you should see her in action with those students. She’s good.”

He sighed. “This isn’t a punishment. This is about making sure you don’t overwork yourself. You were probably going to need to appoint a teacher at some point anyway. I’d just like for that to be sooner rather than later.”

“That isn’t your call,” she told him. She found herself wondering whether or not bending one well-aimed boulder at his head would make him realize she didn’t need any special treatment.

“It _is_ my call. When I see you acting in a way that’s harmful to yourself, it becomes my call. As the Avatar, and as your friend.”

“Harmful?” Sokka asked, bemused. “You do know she’s just teaching a bunch of kids how to sense the earth in metal, or whatever, right? What’s harmful?”

Aang hesitated, before saying, “I only have her best interest in mind.”

“Oh don’t pretend for one minute this has anything to do with me,” she snapped. “It’s all your baggage here, Twinkle Toes.” His own stress and worry each time Katara had been pregnant was clear whenever they were in the room together: touching her stomach every five minutes, insisting on weekly visits to healers. _Does he forget that I don’t have the future of a nation growing inside of me?_

Aang sighed. “I don’t want to have to put this to a vote,” he said quietly, “but you’re not leaving me with much of a choice.”

She knew she was defeated then. Bojing might vote with Sokka, but Sakiko and Kulitak would surely side with the Avatar, as they always seemed to do. “Well, I’d hate for this to be hard on _you_.” With that, she turned and began to walk down the steps, her stomach turning once more. _Not now_.

“Come on, Toph, don’t be mad..." she heard him call after her, but it didn’t matter. She needed to be out of the room as quickly as possible.

She had barely made it into the hallway when she felt the footsteps following her. It was not hard to outrun Sokka, but if she did that, he might press Aang for information instead. She slowed her pace as he rounded the corner into the hall.

He caught up to her just outside an open door to a supply closet, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her inside. “What, no goodbye?” he asked playfully, his free hand going to her waist.

She twisted out of his grip. “Not now.”

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s nothing. I need to get back to the station, that’s all.”

He gave a small groan. “Right, I’m sure. So this doesn't have anything to do with why you and Aang are mad at each other?”

Toph leaned against the doorway. “We’re not.”

“ _Obviously_.”

“He was just...” She could feel her heart beginning to race. Toph had begged Katara to tell Sokka for her, but she staunchly refused. “Don’t you think he deserves to hear it from you?” she had asked.

“Why do I owe him anything?” Toph had shot back. But then Katara got sullen like she always did whenever anything like this came up. She knew her friend wouldn’t be persuaded when she had it in her mind what the right thing to do was. Now, with Sokka only two feet away, she couldn’t help but find Katara’s outlook stupidly naive.

“What’s going on?” Sokka asked.

“Aang was trying to help me because, uh...I’m pregnant.”

Sokka laughed for a moment, but then leaned closer. “Wait, you’re serious?”

Toph realized how easy it would be to end the conversation if she just leaned in a bit more herself. Instead she folded her arms. “Yeah, I’m serious.”

“But...you... I mean... How?”

“How?” She pushed herself upright. “Well Sokka, when a man and a woman—”

“I didn’t mean ‘how’, okay?! I meant...why?”

“Because I thought it would be really, really fun.”

“Come on,” he said, waving an arm in frustration. A tin can on the shelf nearest to him fell to the floor with a clang. “This isn’t a joke. What are we going to do?”

“‘We’? You can relax, this isn’t your kid,” Toph told him.

“But what’s the plan? There needs to be a plan!”

She had never been more acutely aware of how small the supply closet was. “A plan? It’s a baby, not a battle. The plan is I push it out.”

“Toph...”

“Sokka, I don’t have time to deal with this right now. I have investigations to start.” She ducked out the doorway while Sokka still seemed to be struggling to find the words. Thankfully, she didn’t feel him following.

In truth, there was no reason for her to make any changes that day. It was already past noon, and the weekend was right around the corner. Yet once she got back to the station, the last thing she felt like doing was sitting through any more of the usual dead-end briefs. Instead, she called Ju into her office and closed the door.

Ju was relatively new to the force, only having been made an officer a year ago. But Toph couldn’t think of a student who had picked up metalbending quite so quickly before. She did her best to make the offer seem casual, as though she was bored with the gig. Still, she could almost feel Ju’s excitement emanating off of her when the girl declared that it would be “the biggest honor” to lead the academy. Toph tried her best to be happy for her, but there was still something bittersweet about shaking her hand and leading her to the door.

That turned to anger soon enough when she felt who was waiting for her on the other side. “Councilman,” she said sharply, distinctly aware of how full the room was, “what are you doing here? You have a meeting.”

Sokka was half-sitting on the empty desk nearest to her office, but he jumped up as soon as he was addressed. “I need to talk to you.”

Ju rushed off in the direction of her own seat, clearly uncomfortable. Toph knew that if she told him to leave, he would only argue it. “Get in here then.” He dutifully followed after her. She closed the door and immediately rounded on him. “There’s else nothing for us to talk about. You can’t just show up here whenever you want.”

He raised his hands. “I know, I know, but I’ve had time to think.”

“When, in the five minutes you waited before running after me?”

Sokka ignored that, instead leaning himself against her desk only a few feet from where she stood. “Listen,” he said calmly, “the way I see it, we need to do the right thing. Suki gets back in town in a week and I can talk to her, but I think the sooner we get married, the better.”

It took a moment for his words to register. “What? Why would we do that?”

“Because you’re pregnant…”

“But you’re not the father,” she said, doing her best to keep her voice down.

He chuckled. “Right, that makes sense. Especially lately.”

“You’re _not_ ,” she insisted. “Sokka, I’m twenty-six weeks along.”

He jumped away from the desk. “Twenty-six?! This baby is coming in two months? But you look so...I mean... Okay, maybe we can’t wait on Suki. We _really_ need to strategize.”

“Can you not hear the words that I’m saying?”

“Toph, even if you’ve been with other people—”

“It’s not ‘if’!” she yelled. “I am telling you that I _have_ been.”

Sokka sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I know our understanding isn’t always easy, but you don’t need to shield me from anything.”

In any other context, they might have already been on top of her desk by now. It had certainly happened before, often in the heat of an argument. Today, Toph felt more like throwing him out the window. “That’s what you think I’m doing?” she asked, shaking him off. “What, you think just because I’m blind I can’t get anyone else? You think I’ve just been hanging around for _years_ waiting on some hope?”

“That’s not—”

“You weren’t even _here_ six months ago. You were in the Fire Nation, remember?”

That seemed to get through. She could almost feel him searching for the right words. “Wh—I—well... Okay, then who is he?”

“What difference does it make?”

Sokka slapped a hand to his forehead. “Toph, if you’re raising this kid with him, it makes a difference.”

“I’m not.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged. “I don’t even know where is.”

He hesitated. “But you do know who he is, right? I mean you’re _sure_ about this math?”

“Yes Sokka,” she said, exasperated. “He was just a guy named Kanto. Some dock worker for a shipping merchant out of Chameleon Bay.”

“And he didn’t stick around?”

If she didn’t know better, Toph might have thought that he sounded jealous, but she had long since given up on expecting that. “It’s not like I wanted him to. He doesn’t need to be a part of this.”

Sokka leaned back against the desk once more. “Well then, maybe we should still get married.”

“That doesn’t make any sense! Plus, there’s Suki.”

“I’m just saying, with our history and everything.” He threw a hand up. “Besides, she’d probably understand. I know I would if the situations were reversed, I would.”

Toph felt a headache beginning to sink in. She seemed to get one every afternoon, though this time she was sure it had nothing to do with the baby. “How would the situations be reversed, Sokka? If Ty Lee got pregnant and Suki offered to live with her? Because that’s how unrelated this is.”

“Come on, it’s not the same.”

“Isn’t it? Did you see Suki offering to raise Izumi?”

She felt Sokka tense. “Toph, don’t. I’m trying to do the right thing here. You’re going to need help.”

“What, you think I can’t do this on my own?” she asked, her anger oddly rising.

Sokka rocked back onto his feet and turned to face her squarely. “I think you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

“Oh, and I need you to tell me.”

“How are you making me out to be the bad guy in this? I want to be there for you; what’s wrong with that?”

 _Because it’s a lie_. Sure, Sokka might have convinced himself it’s what he wanted today—at the least, his breathing didn’t betray any falsehood. But she knew too well the reality of what tomorrow would bring. Toph took a breath. “Because I don’t want it. Whatever you think you might owe me, just don’t bother, okay?”

Sokka let out a frustrated sigh. “If this is how you’re going to be, then I can’t talk to you right about it now.”

“Well I didn’t want to talk to you about it in the first place!”

“Fine! Why do I even bother?” he yelled, turning on his heel. It was only when he reached the door that Toph realized how much her officers in the next room must have heard.

A thousand responses came to mind as he wrenched the door open—she wanted to beg him to stay, to scream at him to go find Suki, maybe even to proposition him—but she couldn’t seem to manage any words. And then he was gone. For a moment she remained frozen where she stood, until she felt the familiar stirring from within her stomach yet again. She put a hand over the lump. “It’s fine, just settle in there.”

As if in response, she felt an unmistakable tap. _A kick_.


	3. The Lunch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All of Toph's closest friends are in town and that's good, right?

Zuko, Mai, and Izumi had never exactly been the world's chattiest family, but today seemed unusually unbearable. Perhaps Toph had brought this on herself. After her disastrous conversation with Sokka, she had begged Katara to tell the Fire Lord about her pregnancy for her in advance of his trip to the city. Yet after his "So, I hear you're expecting" he had offered once the group was shown to the large restaurant table, the conversation had all but halted.

Izumi was contentedly reading a book, and Mai seemed to thrive on silence, but Toph could feel Zuko's tension next to her. _Am I supposed to keep talking about it?_ She couldn't think of anything she'd rather do less. Every conversation seemed to be the same: "How are you feeling?" "Are you so excited?" "Would you rather a boy or girl?" "Do you think it'll be an earthbender?" She had already regretted telling her department, but there was no way around explaining why their chief was no longer in the field. Not to mention, while she still felt slightly shrunken within her own skin, the roundness in her belly was more noticeable each day.

Katara had finally forced her to go make an appointment with a healer that specialized in deliveries. “You can’t just check me out?” Toph had asked her, when Katara had dropped by the station on one of her lunch breaks.

“This isn’t my expertise. And besides, you told me the healer who took care of your burns called your pregnancy ‘high risk.’”

“She wasn’t sure, and that was only because I wasn’t paying attention to when the baby moved. Now that I know—”

“Toph,” Katara had interrupted, sharply. “You need to make sure the baby’s healthy. It’s too late to...do anything else. But for the baby’s sake, and your own, you need to get checked out.”

Toph had given up arguing at that, and called the healing hut to make the arrangements. Though unbeknownst to her friend, she called back later that day to move the appointment to another week. _It’s only been a month since I found out,_ she told herself. _And I feel mostly fine._

The appointment was now only three days away. _I could talk about that?_ she mused, the silence at the table suddenly coming back into sharp-focus. That sounded terrible to her. Katara could be a pain, but at least she knew how to talk to Zuko. She could feel herself almost willing her other friends to show up.

Toph wracked her brains for any other topic, but could think of nothing but pan fried noodles with picken. Even the baby seemed to be kicking more than normal at the thought of it. Toph had come to take an odd comfort in its movements; perhaps it was as put-off by Zuko's dourness as she was. The thought was amusing, if nothing else.

It was Mai who finally spoke again, idly stirring her jasmine tea. Toph hated the smell of jasmine tea lately. "At least there's plenty of perks of being pregnant. When I was having Izumi, I took a palanquin everywhere."

"You _still_ take a palanquin everywhere," Zuko said fondly.

"Well what's the point of being royalty if you can't enjoy yourself?"

Toph heard Izumi rest her book against the table. "I don't like palanquins," she said simply. "But Dad says they're a tradition, and it's important to follow traditions, because they demonstrate stability."

Zuko continued his daughter's thought for her. "And stability makes the people feel safe, yes. But traditions within reason, of course."

Toph could think of nothing to say to such a proclamation. "Why don't you like them?" she asked the twelve-year-old.

"I can walk just as fast as the people carrying me," she answered.

Her father chuckled. “That’s true, but the point isn’t to go fast.”

“No,” Mai agreed, “I think the point is for it to take as long as possible.”

“Well I don’t like palanquins either,” Toph said, relieved for the topic. “I can’t see in them, and I can go _much_ faster than any of you if I earthbend.”

“I could go fast with firebending too,” Izumi said. “But that’s definitely not the tradition.”

Zuko laughed even harder. “Perhaps when you’re Fire Lord you could change that.”

“I wouldn’t do that,” she mumbled under her breath. He continued to chuckle, but her mother only sighed.

For a moment, silence threatened to fall again until Toph blurted out, “How is your firebending training going anyway?”

“Okay, I think. Master Isao was happy with our last session on the ship.”

“Yes,” Zuko agreed, “she may be a year and a half...two years off of her mastery test.” Toph felt a pang in her chest at his words, suddenly missing her metalbending students. _They were all dunderheads anyway._ Her academy was enjoyable in its own way, but why should she care that Ju would be taking over the grunt work?

Her stomach rumbled, though she was unsure if it was from hunger or the baby moving again. “Good. Have you worked with lightning yet?”

“I have,” Izumi confirmed. “I can redirect it. Producing it is still hard, though I can make blue fire.”

She heard Zuko suck in his breath, while Mai seemed suddenly very interested in stirring her tea. Toph tried to ignore the smell wafting over. She had often heard others talk about the way Azula’s firebending looked, though she never quite understood what the big deal was; her fire had always felt the same as anyone else’s. _Should I ask about her?_ Somehow it seemed like a bad idea. “Well you’ll be sparring with me in no time,” she offered instead. Izumi gave a nervous laugh in response.

“How much longer do you think they’ll be?” Mai asked. “Are they normally this late?”

Toph shrugged. “Sokka, yes. Katara not as much, but maybe Bumi’s holding them up.” She could feel a waiter approach, only to awkwardly turn on his heel. At this rate, she wouldn’t be eating for another half hour. The baby kicked its disapproval.

“Bumi’s coming?” Izumi asked quietly.

“Are you excited to see him?” Zuko asked.

“No.” Toph felt the child push back against the long table. “Last time I saw him, he kept trying to tackle me. And you told me I wasn’t allowed to bend at him.”

“That’s when you take out your knives,” Mai suggested dryly.

“I’m sure he won’t be tackling you in a restaurant,” her father told her. “But once they get here we may put you two and Kya at the end of the table.”

“Okay, Dad. Will I get to hold the baby at least?”

“Oh I bet Katara can’t wait to unload him,” Toph blurted out. She had no clue what made her say it—hunger perhaps; it wasn’t even true. In fact, Katara seemed more attached to Tenzin than any of her other children in their infancy.

“Uh oh. Does that mean he still hasn’t bent anything?” Mai asked, not that she sounded remotely concerned.

“I’m sure Katara doesn’t care about that,” Zuko said quickly.

“But they do want an airbender, don’t they?” Izumi’s voice was still quiet.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “He wants the Air Nation to live on and grow again.”

Toph regretted saying anything at all. “At least he has the acolytes. Air Temple Island really is something these days.”

Zuko sighed. “It wouldn’t be the same.”

“If he doesn’t have any airbenders,” Izumi said slowly, “then what will happen to the fourth Avatar after him?”

He seemed to have no answer. Toph searched her brain for a joke, but was saved the need when she felt familiar footsteps approaching. “They’re here!” she said, barely disguising the relief in her voice. Zuko jumped up immediately, and Izumi followed suit. Mai seemed in no hurry, though she rose as well.

It took another minute for the group to reach them. Toph hung back as Zuko and Mai exchanged hugs with their friends, but when they began greeting the children, she felt a soft hand on her shoulder. It belonged to Suki. “How are you feeling?”

“Hungry,” she said, trying not to be annoyed by the question. What right did she possibly have to feel annoyed with Suki?

She had the grace to laugh. “It’s my fault, I’m sorry to say. Sokka and I—had a late start.”

Toph could hear Sokka exchanging a joke with Zuko. “That’s, uh, fine,” she managed, unsure how else to respond. She couldn’t tell if Suki had meant the remark to be pointed.

“Look, I know... I just want you to know that if you need anything, I’m here.”

To her horror, she felt a lump rise in her throat. She was spared the need of answering by Katara walking over. “Toph, how are you?”

“Fine. Ready to eat.”

“I’m sure of that,” Katara said with a laugh. Suki joined in. Toph wondered how much the restaurant would charge if she bent a rock at them.

“Aunt Toph! Can I feel the baby?!” she heard Kya’s excited voice call. The five-year-old was on them in no time.

“Sure,” she answered, though Kya had already put a hand on her stomach before the word was out of her mouth. The last time she had been to Air Temple Island, the baby was kicking so much everyone had taken a turn feeling it. Though she doubted it would kick on command.

It only took a minute for Kya to get bored of waiting. “The baby’s sleeping,” she declared.

“Well who doesn’t need a good rest?” Sokka strolled over to where they were standing. Kya laughed, but Katara and Suki seemed to shift uncomfortably where they were standing.

“Twinkle Toes has Tenzin?” Toph asked, trying to ignore that.

“Yes,” Katara answered. “We considered leaving him behind with the acolytes, but Aang... He likes to make the most of his time away from the Council.”

Toph turned her attention towards where the Avatar, Zuko, and Mai were standing, but she could only hear Bumi pressing Izumi for details about dragons.

“So do I!” Sokka said. “We may have had the morning off, but we’ve got a meeting after lunch and I’m starving.”

“That makes two of you,” Suki said.

“You scheduled a Council Meeting the day Zuko arrived?” Katara asked.

“Take it up with him; he insisted,” her brother answered. The baby kicked.

Zuko overheard and stepped towards them. “There’s a lot we were delaying until my arrival. But if we’re all a little bit late, I’m sure it will be okay.”

“Sakiko won’t be happy,” Aang joined in, causing Sokka to laugh. Tenzin sat in a sling around his neck, though like always, Toph could have mistaken him for a lightly breathing bundle of cloth. “Hi Toph,” Aang said to her, “how are feeling today?”

It was all she could do not to scream. “Excited for some noodles. Do I need to be at this meeting?” It had been the first she heard of it. Aang usually requested at least a weekly report, but three had passed since it had been decided that she’d start an investigation of her department, and he hadn’t said a word.

“Oh, I don’t think you need to worry about that for now,” he answered.

“You’re not going to be talking about the triads?”

To Toph’s bemusement, Izumi answered. “I thought it was going to be about trade agreements,” she said.

Sokka laughed, but Zuko put a hand on her head. “That’s what we’ll be starting with,” he told her. “She’ll be joining us.”

“Good,” Sokka said, “you can take my seat.”

“Can I come too, Dad?” Bumi called from where he was standing by Mai, no doubt asking to play with her knives.

Aang hesitated. “I doubt you’d enjoy it, Bumi. It’s just a lot of talking.”

“Shall we sit down?” Katara asked.

It took another few minutes to get everyone situated, and ten minutes after that for the waiter to come over. By the time everyone had placed their orders, Toph was feeling light-headed. She was not made more comfortable by the fact that Sokka had elected to sit next to her. Luckily, most of his attention seemed to be directed across the table where Aang and Zuko sat, or to Suki on his other side. Though that only left Toph with Katara and Mai to talk to.

At first they contented themselves to listen to the children’s idle prattle, which from what Toph could tell, mostly consisted of Bumi and Kya bragging to Izumi about their latest adventures in the city while the firebender sat quietly.

Finally Katara broke their own silence. “So Mai, how are things in the Fire Nation?”

“Same as always,” she answered, leaning back in her seat.

Katara tried again. “Zuko mentioned in a letter that he’s trying to reduce the size of your standing army?”

Mai clinked her spoon idly against her saucer as she let out a low laugh. _At least she finally finished her tea._ “Probably; that sounds like something he’d do.”

“Well, perhaps we’ll come for a visit soon. It would be nice to see Capital City again.”

To her left, Toph felt Mai shrug. “I’m sure it’ll be just like it was every other time you’ve seen it. Except when you invaded us.”

Toph forced herself to laugh, since it seemed too uncomfortable to do otherwise. She was sure Mai had intended it as a joke, but sometimes it was hard not to question her part in the war. “I’d travel back for the fire flakes,” she said. “At this rate, maybe I'd be better off; our waiter didn’t seem in any hurry.”

Katara made a sympathetic noise. “That’s always how I felt when I was pregnant. Especially with Kya. This one was always hungry.”

“That’s one thing I don’t miss,” Mai said. “I remember I craving spicy peppers nonstop. I must have eaten up half the island’s supply. It should have been a tip-off that Izumi was going to be a bender.”

Bumi started laughing from the end of the table. “Do you _still_ eat like that?” he asked Izumi.

“No!” she answered, sounding annoyed.

“Bumi,” Katara said in a chiding tone, “it doesn’t mean anything. When I was pregnant with you, I had tsampa porridge almost every day. And you won’t even touch it.”

“I will too!”

“Do you think your baby will be a bender?” Kya asked.

Toph shifted in her seat. Though she had gotten quite used to feeling the baby inside of her, she had spent very little time considering what would happen once it was born. As if not thinking about it could somehow make it less real. _You have only yourself to blame for this. You tried to ignore it, and look how that turned out._ She realized a silence had grown. “I don’t know. Some of the kicks are really hard, I guess. Maybe?” She was quite certain Kanto had been a nonbender, or else he would have had a better job, but she wasn’t entirely sure how much that mattered. _Do I want a bender?_ How could she know such a thing, when she hardly wanted the baby? _Well what choice is there?_ She could feel her heart beating faster. The baby stirred in response.

“If you have a nonbender, he can be a great warrior like Uncle Sokka!” Bumi said. Toph froze on the spot. _Why would he think it’d be like Sokka?_ Surely the kids couldn’t know anything.

“Benders are warriors too,” Izumi pointed out.

“So are _girls_ ,” Kya said. “Aunt Suki fights.”

“Maybe we won’t have any wars to worry about,” Katara said quickly.

Mai gave a derisive laugh. “You should pass that on to my husband; he never seems to think so.”

That quieted the children for a moment, until Kya blurted out, “So do you want a boy or a girl?”

 _I want my noodles._ “I’ll make it work either way,” Toph answered, trying desperately to sound amused.

“Do you have any names picked out, at least?” Mai asked.

She found herself wishing that they would go back to talking about the Fire Nation's disarmament. “I like Toph Jr.,” she joked.

“What if it’s a boy?” Bumi asked.

“You should go with a family name,” Izumi said. “Dad said it’s a sign of respect.”

“But,” Kya began slowly, “there’s no one in your family named ‘Izumi’. Is there?”

Kya’s last question was directed at her own mother, though it was Mai who answered. “‘Izumi’ was some Fire Lord during Avatar Kyoshi’s time. Zuko has at least three biographies of her.”

“I’m named for my grandmother!” Kya said happily.

Toph could feel her stomach twisting still. _Is this the baby?_ “Yeah, well, you guys don’t know my family.”

“Oh right,” Mai said, “aren’t your parents really strict? How’d they take it?”

On her other side, Toph heard Sokka laughing at something Aang had said. She considered asking him to repeat it just so she could ignore the question, but Katara would only hound her later about it. “I’ll let you know.”

Her friend didn’t disappoint. “Toph!” Katara said. “You didn’t tell them yet?”

“I only found out a month ago!”

“You did?” Mai asked.

Katara ignored her. “I know going to Gaoling would be difficult, but I at least thought you wrote them.”

“Well I didn’t..." Toph began, acutely aware of the fact that the kids were still listening. “...know my plans yet. No point in worrying them.”

“The baby’s due in two months.”

Toph always hated when she got like this. “Is it? I forgot.”

Katara sighed. “Well, if your healer says it’s okay, maybe we can all make the trip to Gaoling together. If we went on Appa it probably wouldn’t be too stressful. I haven’t been home in a bit, and the South Pole isn’t much further. You could spend a few days with your parents while we pop down there.”

She felt tears beginning to form. Why did that keep happening to her? “Maybe,” she said gruffly, before turning her body towards the other side of the table.

Aang seemed to be at the end of a story. “So that’s when he asked me, ‘But doesn’t the minimum barley price count for rice too?’” Zuko and Suki chuckled, but Sokka let out a groan.

“Wow Twinkle Toes,” she said, desperate to ignore the silence that was growing on her left, “don’t tell me I’ve missed out on all your tax jokes.”

“Grain price volatility has nothing to do with taxes,” Zuko said.

“Oh you’ll be a hit at today’s meeting,” Sokka added, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

“No,” Suki said, still laughing, “Toph, we were just talking about how crazy trade has gotten at port cities. Aang had a fun scrape with one of the companies out of Chameleon Bay.”

“‘Fun’ isn’t how I’d describe it,” the Avatar said cheerfully. He had taken Tenzin out of the sling and was doing his best to prop him up on his lap. _He feels like a sack of flour_ , Toph thought. She could probably manage a sack of flour.

“Well, Fire Fountain City is growing nearly as busy,” Zuko began to say. Toph couldn’t think of anything she cared about less, but she was almost afraid what would happen if she rejoined Katara and Mai’s conversation. At the moment, she heard Mai saying something about her brother.

“That reminds me,” Sokka said softly, his face suddenly inches from her own. She could feel his breath on her neck. “I have a plan.”

To her horror, she felt herself responding to his closeness. It wasn’t exactly a shock; for the past two weeks she had been considering some of her officers in ways she hadn’t before, and ways she certainly shouldn’t. But even if it was just Sokka, this was not the place for it. She inched slightly towards Mai, trying to keep her voice to a whisper. “What? A plan for what?”

“The baby, of course. I’ll tell you about it later.” She felt him turn away in time to hear Aang ask about the construction of a pier.

She kicked his foot under the table. “You’ll tell me now.”

“I...this isn’t..." He put a hand on her thigh. “Just trust me, I’ve got it.”

“Sokka..." She couldn’t find the words, the warmth from his fingertips distracting her, almost seeming to spread up her leg.  

He surreptitiously turned his head back and forth. “I’m going to find Kanto, okay?” he said, sounding nervous.

“What?!” That seemed to snap Toph back into reality. “No you’re not!” She could barely keep her voice down.

“Later, okay?” he whispered, removing his hand.

“You know, Zuko,” Suki said, rather loudly, “if Fire Fountain City needs extra protection, the Kyoshi Warriors will be happy to help. I could even see to it myself.”

“I...uh, don’t think that’s necessary,” he answered awkwardly.

“Well the offer always stands. I know I certainly wouldn’t mind visiting the Fire Nation again.”

“Suki,” Sokka said in a warning tone. It suddenly hit Toph what she had probably meant by a ‘late start’ and why he had been insistent on whispering.

“What?” Suki asked, innocently. “I always enjoy myself when I’m there.”

Toph could feel Sokka gripping the table next to her, and could almost sense Aang searching for any other topic. He was spared the necessity by Tenzin bursting into tears. His tiny sobs were not nearly as piercing as other babies she had heard, but suddenly everyone at the table was falling over themselves to quiet him.

“Is he okay, Mommy?” Kya asked.

“I don’t think he’s wet,” Aang told his wife, handing her the baby.

“I just fed him, too,” she answered. “And I thought he slept alright.”

Everyone seemed to be talking at once. “Do you want me to take him outside?” “It could be gas.” "I'm sure he's just overwhelmed with all the faces." Toph could feel the movements of everyone, their vibrations almost making her feel dizzy. “Maybe we should put him back in the sling.” “Let him cry, that’s how they learn to take care of themselves.” Unconsciously she reached for her own stomach.

“Of course he’s fine, he might just be tired.” “It’s a big day for him.” “Maybe he’s coming down with something? Remember Bumi was coughing last week.” “I think fresh air would help.” Toph stopped hearing them, her heart pounding in her ears. _I can’t do this,_ she thought. _I can’t, what was I possibly thinking?_ That had been her issue; she hadn’t thought enough, and now it was too late. _This is your fault._ Even Sokka and Suki’s fight was her doing. She needed to leave, but where was there to go?

A quiet suddenly fell over the table, with the exception of Tenzin’s small voice, and Toph realized that their waiter had returned. “Pan fried picken noodles?” he asked.   


	4. The Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toph tells her parents the happy news!

It was a six day voyage to the City of Gao Ling. Six days with no where to go. Though unlike the Air Temple Island’s boat, Toph could actually see on the deck of the metal ship, she had never felt more trapped in her own head and body. There were times she found herself wishing that she had taken Katara up on her offer to travel on Appa; she would have been blind in his saddle, but for only half the time. Yet any time she considered that all she could imagine were Katara’s continual questions, Aang’s quiet disapproval, and their children’s shrieks. No, better to deal with a claustrophobic week.

It was with Sokka that she managed to find some comfort during the nights, as much as they had both tried to resist it. She hadn’t even considered asking him to come, but a week before she was set to leave, Suki had abruptly announced that the Kyoshi warriors were needed in Ba Sing Se. Toph didn’t have to use her earthbending to know it was a lie. When she saw how sullen Sokka had become after she had gone, she couldn’t help but blurt out the invitation.

“You still want to help me?” she had asked, catching him after a particularly tedious Council meeting. She had needed to argue with Aang for the better part of an hour to attend it, though once there, found herself wondering what she had even been fighting for.

“I’ve been trying, but I’m starting to suspect ‘Kanto’ may not even be this guy’s name,” he had answered.

“No, not that. I’m going to visit my parents, and uh..." It had been hard not to sound desperate. “It’d be helpful if you came too. You know, just because my father likes you and stuff.”

It may have been Sokka’s desperation to have a problem to solve, or the fact that since Zuko had come to town, Council meetings had grown twice as long, but he had agreed enthusiastically on the spot without the slightest hesitation.

Toph couldn’t help but feel guilty. She knew she was the reason he was even in a fight with Suki. But Sokka had told her too many times before that at the end of the day, he was the one responsible for his actions, and that she needed to let him make those decisions, whatever the consequence. It was hard to believe the first time he said those words to her was over ten years ago.

It took them being out to sea for a full day for Toph to finally broach the subject. They had spent the day dancing around each other, Sokka running around the deck, trying to show-off his sailing knowledge, and Toph, unable to decide if she could bear to stay in her cabin with its dankness, or if the deck with dozens of eyes was even worse. She ended up catching Sokka in one of her many trips between the two, as he was coming out of the engine room. “You sure it’s okay that you came?” she asked.

“Well this ship’s already left the harbor, hasn’t it?” She could tell he was trying to be funny, but there was an edge to his voice.

“Sokka, I might be blind, but I’m not an idiot.”

“It’s fine, okay?” he snapped. “She’s not thinking rationally; I haven’t done anything wrong. She just needs time to cool off.”

“Suki’s pretty rational,” Toph had said. She was not about to let her take the blame for any of this mess.

“Well what do you want, then? For me to jump into the water and swim back?”

They had argued it all the way back to the deck and spent the evening fighting, to the bemusement of the crew of ore merchants. But when the time came for them to retire to their cabins after a tense dinner, Sokka had pulled her inside his own. Even though it had only been a couple of months since they had last been together, the heat of their argument seemed to make everything more intense than normal. Or was it the pregnancy? There had been no mistaking her cravings as of late, however ill-advised this one was. She was no more in the mood to dwell on it than he was, however, and that was how they spent their other nights as well.

It was the days that were the problem. Sokka liked to busy himself then, fussing with the cargo or interviewing the crew for the latest news out of the ports. But even if he had been content to stay with her the whole time, she wouldn’t have had the physical strength for it. Whatever energy she found in the evening was nonexistent under the sun. Her afternoon migraines were as strong as ever, and sometimes it felt as though she had to remind her body to breathe. Adding to that, her baby was moving more than usual, and apparently took a liking to kicking her in the ribs. She’d try to get it to move back down by pushing on the lump, though it didn’t seem to do any good.

Yet the worst part had nothing to do with how she felt: it was what she knew would be waiting for her. Strangers on the streets these days took her for only four months pregnant or so, but she was unmistakably showing nonetheless. Her parents would see immediately. It had been over fifteen years since she and her father had forgiven one another, and though she was sure he had let go of his idea of a ‘poised, obedient, demure’ daughter, this was something else. Her mother would understand, or at least try to. But for all that had changed between her parents after their own reconciliation ten years ago, it was still Lao Beifong who ran the house.

Perhaps that was for the best; his horror at the situation might be great enough that he would offer to raise the child without her even asking. Toph had made up her mind that it was the right thing to do back in Republic City, but on the deck of the ship with nothing for company but the salted breeze, it somehow didn’t seem so clear. She convinced herself it was simply her nerves, yet every now and then she’d hear a voice in her head asking, _‘Didn’t you run away from that for a reason?’_

It was especially persistent today, knowing it would be mere hours until she saw them both again. For once she was almost happy to not be able to see the approaching land mass. If the baby wasn’t blind, there probably wouldn’t be an issue. And even if it was... “My dad knows better now,” she told herself. He had surely learned that lesson in the mine. _If it’s an earthbender I’ll insist on training._ She felt a good kick in the ribs at that, which almost made her laugh; of course it would be an earthbender. _Maybe I can even be the one to teach it._ There was something sad, thinking about it, but she couldn’t let herself think anymore. She had made her decision when she bought passage, and she knew it was for the best.

Even so, her mind was still racing as she felt the ship begin to slow. she could hear the sounds of the dock approaching, the familiar smells filling her nose. For a second she was half a child again.

Sokka interrupted the spell; he quietly sidled next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. It took all of her strength to resist the urge to lean against him. Toph was grateful he had come—surely someone else would have helped things stay civil—but she was all too aware of how fleeting his comfort was. She could feel herself tensing.

“So,” he asked, oblivious, “when was the last time you were here?”

“A couple of years.”

“But they’ve come to Republic City, right?”

“Here and there. My mother visited last year.” Poppy Beifong was hardly the epitome of self-sufficiency, but she began insisting on taking a trip alone each year after reconciling with Lao. From what Toph had gleaned, the single lifestyle had suited her mother fine, though there was no denying she was happier to be back in the comforts of the Beifong estate.

“Oh, well maybe they’ll just think you’ve gotten fat then!” Sokka offered. She slammed him in the stomach with a fist as he offered a half-hearted apology. “Come on, you know it was a joke.”

“It’s not funny, Sokka. They... I don’t think my dad will be too happy.”

He sighed and touched the railing as the ship came to a halt. “Well what’s the big deal? They don’t see you much, and wouldn’t they want a grandkid?”

“You don’t get it,” Toph told him. She hadn’t prepared him for what she was about to ask of her parents, but the idea of dealing with his disapproval only minutes before was too much. “My situation...it just isn’t what’s ‘done.’ He’ll think I’m dishonoring the Beifong name.”

“Your dad? Why would he think that? You practically founded a nation and you’re keeping it safe. Heck, you _invented_ metalbending! You’re bringing glory to the name, if anything.”

“I don’t think he’ll see it like that.”

“Then I’ll make him see,” he answered, sticking out his chest slightly.

Toph heard two men turning the crank around which the anchor’s chain was wrapped. She moved towards the ramp’s opening, determined to be the first one off the ship. “Look, Sokka,” she said when she felt his footsteps following, “just let me do the talking, alright?”

“Just a moment, ma’am,” a sailor told her a few feet from where the ramp would soon be extended. She gave a small nod, and Sokka leaned against the railing.

“I thought you said your dad liked me,” he complained.

In truth, Toph wasn’t entirely sure her father would remember him, but she had needed some reason to ask him. “Well you showed him that mine, I guess. I’m sure he admires your, uh...your..." She let her voice trail off.

“Oh come on!”

“Your proactivity, that’s it!” Sokka made another exasperated noise, but Toph just shrugged. “What? It’s a compliment.”

They were both interrupted by the sudden scraping of metal on metal. Toph pushed past the sailor onto the unwinding ramp. Sokka fell in close behind her. “What’s the rush?”

She could hear the noise of the town rushing toward her, and nearly lost her footing when the ramp made contact with the dock. “Nothing, I just want to be off that ship.” She felt Sokka reach for her arm to catch her, but she raced towards the square beyond the wharves.

He caught her again just when her feet finally made contact with the dirt. “Are you even supposed to be running?”

“I’m fine!” she said, though she slowed her pace. She wasn’t supposed to be running. In fact, her healer had cautioned her against traveling at all three weeks prior.

“Well, Miss Beifong, the baby is perfectly healthy, you’ll be happy to know,” he had told her after an invasive ten minutes of probing.

“I’m not high-risk then?” she asked, hoping the answer might mean she could at least go in the field a little bit.

The waterbender had stopped and to put what he probably considered a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Toph had only found it irksome. “Well, ‘high-risk’ sounds a little dramatic, but you do have a low-fluid pregnancy. The concern there is early labor, especially at your age.”

“So...how do I get more fluid?”

He had laughed at that, opting to pat her shoulder as he explained, “Oh you can’t get more. Wouldn’t that be something? No, the best we can do is see that you avoid strenuous activity: travel, lifting, anything that might put a strain on yourself.”

It was Toph’s turn to laugh now, wondering what he would have thought of her nights on the ship. She had considered heading the healer’s warning, but she failed to see how standing on a deck would be any more strenuous than her usual activity back home. And if her time with Sokka was hurting her, she surely would have felt it by now. Toph tried to shake the worry from her mind as she headed towards the familiar, winding path.

Gaoling was not the largest town, but the Beifong Estate sat on the outskirts furthest from the docks, comfortably nestled behind its walls. It had been twenty years since Toph had run off, yet she still had every inch memorized. Should could feel many newer buildings lining the square, and far more ostrich horse carts. The town’s coal trade had always kept it a vibrant place, and lately with the war a fading memory and the United Republic settling down, demand was higher as ever. Yet for all the new citizens that had moved in, she was certain her father would have made sure that his estate was untouched by foot-traffic, like always. From her vantage points, she could already feel how the rows of buildings thinned as the path stretched slowly towards the base of the mountains.

She had only taken a few steps when Sokka stopped her. “Wait. There’s a guy over there holding a sign that says ‘Beifong.’”

Twenty feet away from them, she could feel a burly figure standing still next to an ostrich horse cart. She sighed. “Guess it’s better for my parents to forget I’m blind than to try and lock me up for it.”

“Or they knew I’d read the sign,” Sokka said with a shrug. He made to start towards the man but stopped in his tracks when she remained silent. “Toph...you did write to your parents that I was coming, didn’t you?”

“Penmanship was never my strong suit. Come on.” She pulled him towards the cart before he could object again.

The man with the sign bowed immediately and helped Toph into the back of the carriage. She leaned against the cushions sullenly; it was one thing to ride around on a chase with one of her trusted officers driving, but for a simple drive up a road, she resented losing her ability to tell where she was going.

Sokka seemed even more restless beside her, spending the several minutes twisting in his seat, no doubt surveying the town. Finally he settled himself, but not silently. “So how much do they know? How much am I allowed to say?”

“You don’t need to say anything,” Toph answered. _It’s probably best if you don’t._

“Should I tell them about my search for Kanto?”

“ _I_ don’t even want to hear about your search, Sokka. I told you to drop it.”

“Wait a minute…” he began slowly before lowering his voice, “is this driver going to report to them?”

 _Probably now that you’re whispering._ “It doesn’t matter,” she grumbled, wincing as the baby gave her yet another kick in the ribs. It seemed to kick more than usual any time Toph couldn’t use her earthbending. She pushed her hand against the lump to try and get it to slide down and felt the baby turn in response. The next kick was harder, but mercifully lower.

“Are you okay?” Sokka asked.

Before she could answer the ostrich horse cart turned sharply, before slowing to a halt. Sokka hopped out immediately and turned to help Toph down. Normally she would have jumped herself, but the cart had been slightly higher off the ground, and her ankles often felt weak these days.

As soon as her feet touched the ground it was as though no time had ever passed. “Home sweet home,” she said sarcastically. She could feel two guards standing by the gate like always, though she didn’t recognize either one. Beyond the wall, however, she could feel her mother outside, tending to a patch of flowers. Growing up, her family had at least different three gardeners in their employ, but her mother had always been so proud of her orchids. Even a seven-year separation from her husband hadn’t changed that. Toph inhaled deeply.

She hardly noticed the bowing guards stuttering out their greetings as she and Sokka passed through the doors. Her mother was turning now, facing the entrance. The grounds seemed to stretch endlessly between them, though Toph had no choice but to continue walking forward.

Sokka broke the silence. “Is that your mom?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Where’s your dad?”

“Probably inside, how should I know?” Toph tried not to raise her voice, though Sokka wasn’t making it easy for her.

They had just passed the topiary when her mother finally moved from her spot. “Toph?” she asked, rushing forward.

“Hi Mom,” she answered.

When they were within feet of each other Poppy suddenly drew up, causing Toph to stop as well. She put a hand to her mouth, but recovered quickly enough. “Well,” her mother said breathlessly, moving forward again, “your father and I certainly weren’t expecting you to come with a guest...or _two_.” She pulled her into a fast hug, but broke it to place a hand on Toph’s stomach.

“Thought you’d like the personal touch,” Toph said, trying to sound casual. “Mom, you remember Sokka?”

“An honor, Ma’am,” he said at the introduction, bowing deeply.

“Why yes, of course I do,” her mother lied, though she was sure Sokka wouldn’t be able to tell. Poppy held out her hand, which he kissed, before turning back towards Toph. “Your father will be most excited. Come, he is in the parlor. We can discuss the happy news over tea.”

Toph felt her heart begin to race. The baby kicked once more, settling even further down in her abdomen than it had. _Maybe it likes it here,_ she told herself.

Her mother led the two of them indoors while Sokka offered empty compliments about the estate. Toph let their conversation wash over her, acutely aware of the figure she sensed two rooms away. Her mother had been so kind, perhaps she would be lucky.

No sooner did they reach the doorway than Lao Beifong jumped up. “Toph!” he said eagerly, though unlike his wife, he waited for her to approach him for a hug.

She did so dutifully, giving him a feeble, “Hello, Father.”

He kept a hand on her shoulder when they separated. “Well, this is quite the surprise,” he said, sounding almost pleased.

“This is Sokka, dear,” Poppy offered.

“Yes, of course, it’s a pleasure to welcome you back.” Lao let go of Toph to receive Sokka’s bow.

“The pleasure’s mine, Sir,” he said.

“I’ve certainly read quite a good deal about you in the papers,” her father told him. “But this is no time for politics.” He turned back towards Toph. “Please, sit. You should be resting.”

 _This might be easier than I thought._ The group moved to the pair of couches, separated only by a low table. Lao rang for tea, and barely waited for the servant to leave before continuing. “Well then, Toph, it seems we have much to catch up on.”

“I can’t believe I’m old enough to be a grandmother,” Poppy chuckled.

“I’d never guess,” Sokka said. Toph groaned while her mother laughed, but Lao pretended not to have heard.

“When is the baby due? At the end of fall?”

Toph shifted in her seat. “Try five weeks.”

“Five weeks?!” her mother repeated in surprise.

Her father leaned forward. “You traveled here that late in your term?”

“It’s not that big of a deal. I feel fine.”

“Yeah, she knows wh—” Sokka began, but Lao cut him off.

“Toph, I know we aren’t in contact that frequently, but why wouldn’t you tell us earlier?”

 _I didn’t know,_ she thought, though she couldn’t say that. “I...wasn’t sure,” she tried instead. She knew the words made no sense, though fortunately her mother came to the rescue.

“Pregnancy can be touch and go, Lao.”

“Perhaps,” he said, smoothing his mustache in contemplation. “But to not tell your parents about a wedding is almost cruel.” His voice was etched with humor, but his words made Toph’s heart race.

“I’m not married,” she said quickly.

A silence hung in the air for a moment. It was her mother who broke it. “Well, I’m sure with the turmoil of the pregnancy, planning such an event is the last thing you need right now.”

“Yes,” her father agreed slowly. “I suppose so. But you two have plans to marry in the near future?”

Toph could feel Sokka shifting on the couch next to her. “Sokka and I aren’t getting married,” she explained.

“Believe me, I’ve tried,” he added with a laugh.

“Sokka!” she exclaimed, punching him in the leg, not caring if her parents saw. She turned back towards them. “He’s joking, Father. We’re just friends, and this baby isn’t his. He’s only here to... To help me out.” _Dad might like the sound of that,_ she figured. _He’s probably hiding his anger that I even traveled this close to my due date._

“I see,” Lao said in a stiff tone. “I trust that you and the father of this child will be marrying, then?”

“Yes, we’d love to meet him soon,” Poppy added.

“I’m not marrying him either.”

Sokka took a breath as if to speak, but Toph cautioned him with a small wave of her hand. She could feel her mother’s tension, her father’s quiet contemplation. At last, Lao spoke again. “May I ask why not?”

 _Because I don’t want to._ “He’s not... It didn’t really work out, okay?”

“He won’t have you,” he said, nodding. “Perhaps we can help make this match seem more...agreeable to him. The Beifong name does carry some weight still.”

“What?!” Sokka blurted out angrily.

She didn’t bother smacking him for that—she was having trouble containing her own reaction. “No Dad. We’re not even in contact.”

“Has he run off?” Poppy asked.

“We certainly have the resources to find him, if so,” her father added.

Toph balled one of her hands into a fist. “I hadn’t forgotten.”

Whatever effect she hoped her words might have, Lao seemed oblivious. “Then give us a name, and we can solve this problem.”

“No!” she exclaimed. She felt her mother jump slightly in her chair. “This isn’t a problem. He’s not in my life because I don’t want to him to be.”

“I do not understand,” he answered. “Unless, you are saying that this was somehow forced on you..."

Sokka let out a laugh at that. “Toph could fight anyone off.”

“That was my impression as well,” he agreed. “Which is why I do not understand.”

Toph forced herself to take a breath before speaking. “There’s nothing _to_ understand. I know it’s difficult for your to hear, but these were the choices I made. I thought you realized who I was back in that mine, Dad—the real me. That you’d let go of hoping for a prim and proper daughter.” She could feel a lump rising in her throat, making her words painful. “I get that the choices I made aren’t what you might have hoped for, but if you were able to accept me then, can’t you find a way to accept me now?”

No one seemed to draw a breath. Poppy raised a hand to her mouth, but only turned towards her husband, saying nothing. After what felt like minutes, he spoke. “What I understand,” he began so quietly it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, “is that in all your desire for freedom, to be the best earthbender in the world—a desire we have granted you—you’ve lost sight of how civilized young ladies behave. Perhaps our rules seemed stifling, but they would have never led to such a debasement. These choices you so proudly defend dishonor us all.”

“Dear!” her mother said in a worried tone.

Toph was finding it difficult to talk; there were tears stinging her eyes, but she could also feel herself shaking with rage. The baby had stopped kicking, oddly, but she could feel it stirring still, as if upset as well.

Sokka’s angry voice sounded from next to her. “How can you say that? Toph’s a hero! She’s saved _your_ life, hasn’t she? There’s nothing wrong with her!”

Lao was on him in an instant. “Nothing wrong with a Beifong living as a willful slut?!”

Sokka jumped up at that, though Lao merely folded his arms. Poppy put her hand back over her mouth. Suddenly, without reason, Toph began laughing. “Toph?” Sokka asked quietly, turning to look at her.

“Perhaps you could tell me what you find amusing about this?” Her father’s voice was sharp as iron, which only added to the hilarity.

“It’s about the appearances, just like always,” she said between laughs. “Well don’t you just have the most _proper_ life here? Right, Mom?”

“ _Toph,_ ” she scolded. Sometimes it was hard to believe that this was the same woman who only twelve years ago had snuck two men out of her back door when Toph had come for a visit.

She ignored her mother’s admonishing tones, instead pointing to where her father was sitting. “Guess what, Dad? The Beifong name’s not just yours anymore. Visit Republic City and use it, and you’ll see. No one cares about your flying boar, they care about how I’m keeping the place safe, how I’m training new metalbenders.”

“That is not an excuse to—”

She cut her father off, rising to her own feet. “And she’s going to be a Beifong too,” Toph said, patting her stomach. “Based on her kicks, probably going to be the second-greatest earthbender ever.”

“I wish only the best for your child,” Lao said, “but this will not persuade me to ignore your shame.”

“Then I guess I won’t have to ignore yours.” She turned away. “Sokka, we’re leaving.”

“Fine by me.”

“Toph, please,” Poppy called, rising to her feet. “At least stay for lunch.”

“Yeah, that would be fun,” she answered sarcastically, moving towards the doorway. It wasn’t fair to take anything out on her, Toph knew, but it was hard not to feel frustrated when her mother could have so easily been in a similar position. She paused. “Feel free to visit, Mom. I hope you will,” she said pointedly. When she hugged her goodbye, Toph could feel her fighting tears. She felt guilty leaving her, but there was no way she could be expected to stay after her father’s behavior. Sokka offered an awkward apology to Poppy, but he was almost in as big of a rush to leave the room as Toph. Lao didn’t say another word.

Toph and Sokka had nearly crossed the full estate before he spoke. “So, _she’s_ going to be an earthbender? You’re having a girl, then?”

The baby had settled back down again. She shrugged. “I guess so.” _And she’ll grow up without ever hearing the phrase ‘proper lady’_ , Toph vowed.


	5. Lin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's a little labor when you've got a good book?

Toph had to pee.

That’s all that seemed to happen to her lately, and it happened too often. She tried to shift the lump in her stomach higher, but it did little to alleviate the pressure. _I can hold it a little longer_ , she thought. It’s not that she had been doing anything that couldn’t be interrupted; she was just reclining on a daybed. What else was there to do? But if she went to the bathroom, she would pass Zuko’s room. And if she passed Zuko’s room, she would have to talk to him.

In some ways, it had been worse when Toph first came to stay on Air Temple Island a couple of weeks ago. Then, the Fire Lord seemed at a loss to even formulate words. The only thing he ever managed was asking her how she felt, to quickly diminishing returns. Toph loathed the question too; if she wanted to talk about it, she could bring it up herself. This led to many awkward encounters in the hallway of the dormitory. However, they had a breakthrough when Zuko and Aang mentioned a Council meeting over dinner one night and Toph had made a joke about Sakiko’s tax plans in response. From then on, whenever she and Zuko passed one another, he would bring up some anecdote or specific of running Republic City.

It had annoyed Toph how surprised he had initially seemed at her ability to speak to the subject, though with Aang having done everything he could to keep Toph out of Council meetings the last few months, she supposed it wasn’t entirely unreasonable. And it was hard to be too mad when Zuko was so clearly excited to have found _some_ topic of conversation for them beyond her gas pains. So for the past week, she had allowed him to prattle on about the trade, about Kulitak trying to style himself after Sokka, about the increase in Northern Water Tribe immigrants, and about the triads — the job she had been forced to leave, and wouldn't be able to return to for months.

It wasn’t Aang, but his wife she had to thank for that; Katara had been livid when Toph and Sokka returned from Gao Ling. In fairness, Toph knew it had been ill-advised, and fully expected her healer to give her an earful for it. Somehow his timid reproach had almost made it worse. She had gone straight to him from the boat home. Though she was sure nothing was truly wrong, it had been impossible to ignore the fact that the baby wasn’t kicking as much for the entire return journey.

“This is why I warned you not to travel,” the healer had told her after he finished passing the stream of water over her stomach. Any trace of humor that had been in his voice during her last visit was gone. “A low-fluid pregnancy means your baby has less cushioning. Early labor is the biggest risk, but there’s others as well, like cord compression that could put your baby into distress.”

“Well...is it?” Toph had asked. She forced herself not to say ‘she’, even though she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was going to have a daughter.

“Everything seems fine,” he confirmed with a sigh. “But you must rest. Let Dad here take care of what needs to be done.”

Sokka had started at that, but said nothing, and Toph hadn’t even had the strength to argue it. Even so, with what waited for her at her apartment, the trip to the healer's turned out to have been the high-point of her day.

Sokka must have been more worried about the baby on the boat than he let on, because he had sent for Katara to meet them. And though at first feeling her friend waiting for them on the other side of the door had been a small comfort to Toph, it took under a minute for that to vanish.

“What were you _thinking?_ ” Katara had demanded once as they walked into the room. “You _knew_ this was a high-risk pregnancy and you still sailed halfway across the world without even telling me?”

“You’re the one who said I needed to talk to my parents,” Toph pointed out.

“Only if your healer said it was okay! And I told you that we could all fly down on Appa together to make sure it was safe.”

“Woah,” Sokka had interrupted, sounding confused, “I didn’t know that. Why did we waste two weeks on a ship then?”

Katara elected to ignore him. “Did you even think about your baby?”

“Of course I did,” Toph had protested. If only Katara had known the real reason for the trip. Yet somehow the idea of admitting to almost giving her baby away to her parents seemed impossible. “But it’s not like being on a boat is that different than if I had stayed home. It’s mostly just sitting in a cabin.”

“You don’t get it! That _is_ only thinking about yourself. What if a storm had come? What if your baby stopped moving when you were two days out to sea? Because unless you were traveling with your healer, that wasn’t thinking about him.”

“Her,” Toph had corrected in spite of herself, though Sokka’s angry reply had drowned it out.

“Back off, Katara! If you knew what her father said to her, you wouldn’t even think about giving her a hard time. She’s been through—”

“I don’t care what he said! It was reckless, Sokka. And I can’t believe you agreed to go too, after everything that happened.”

Toph had felt a headache beginning to form, and made her way to her arm chair while the siblings continued their argument. “Toph is perfectly healthy,” Sokka had objected, “and even her healer said so today.”

“So that was the only thing you thought to consider?”

His voice had been ice when he answered. “If I wanted your opinion, I would have asked.”

That seemed to remind his sister that Toph was still in the room. “Well, I’m glad the baby is okay,” she had managed in an annoyingly self-righteous tone, turning towards where Toph sat. “But I think it would be in everyone’s best interest if you moved to Air Temple Island until it comes.”

“Why?” Toph had asked.

“One of our acolytes is a midwife, and the island would take you away from the stresses of the city.”

“Away from my job you mean.”

Katara had only scoffed. “If you can take two weeks away from your job for something so ill-advised, you can take a few more weeks away for your health. You were going to have to start maternity leave sometime.”

She had tried to argue that she wanted to close out her department’s investigations before her leave, but it was no use. Katara had made up her mind, too frustrated and angry to listen to anything anyone else had to say. Toph suspected her friend would not have been half so angry had she traveled alone to Gao Ling, though she didn’t dare point it out. Katara was never reasonable about that stuff.

Still, whatever Katara might have been worried about was soon put to rest when Suki had returned to Republic City only three days later. Even though Toph had felt absurdly nervous for Sokka to face his girlfriend again, the next thing she knew, he was telling her that he and Suki were going to go on a vacation of their own for a bit. And so they had left for Ember Island, where they could reconnect, while Toph moved to Air Temple Island, where she could think about her pee.

She knew she had no right to be jealous. It wasn’t the life she wanted or else she would have accepted his proposal. Though that thought did little to shake the feeling of loneliness that life on the island seemed to bring. Even with the acolytes bustling around, Toph found herself unable to talk with anyone. They had always been weird, and woefully square. Who else would give up their life to worship the ground Aang walked on?

The Avatar himself was taking more and more time away from everyone. With Zuko staying on the island as well, he couldn’t hide in the city the way Toph suspected he had a few months ago, but good hours would go by before and after a meal where no one would have seen him. “Meditation,” he’d always say if ever asked. Yet no amount of time communing with the spirits would be able to bring him what he needed, which he likely understood. It was hardly an impossibility for Tenzin to still be an airbender, even if airbenders typically showed at only a few months. But that’s what Aang believed the monks had always said, so each passing day had its toll.

In Toph’s view, Tenzin was at least more interesting now than he had been. Aang and Katara’s coddling may have kept him in a sling for some time, but the baby was now able to sit upright, click his tongue, and seemed to be trying to speak. He only ever produced a “bah” noise around her, though maybe Aang had convinced himself that his son was trying to sound out “Monk Bhakto.”

Katara had been doing her best to pretend that everything was fine, but even so, her two other children had taken a great interest in their brother’s lack of bending. Kya was convinced Tenzin was a waterbender and therefore insisted on barging into the room every time he was to get a bath; that was where her skills had first revealed themselves, so there was some sense to it. Bumi, on the other hand, would speak loudly about how the baby just needed proper motivation to fly, and would often suggest flinging Tenzin off of things. Toph could tell he didn't truly believe it, though if he was hoping for laughs from his parents, they rarely came.

Toph couldn't work up the energy to humor him herself. Each time he spoke, each time Kya barged through a door, even each time Tenzin said “bah,” it only served to remind her how she'd never have another moment to herself again. She had always enjoyed the company of children before, but living on the island with them...they were inescapable. _What kind of a mother am I if I'm still just feeling trapped?_ Toph thought. _The baby could come any day. Shouldn't I be excited?_ Katara would be excited.

This wasn’t made better by the fact that she hadn’t bothered to choose possible names yet. Even assuming it would be a girl, nothing sounded right. She couldn’t imagine having a child named “Poppy”, yet naming a child after herself seemed even worse. There were other family names she could have picked from, but her father rarely allowed his wife’s family to visit, so they held no particular meaning for her. Of course, choosing a name from his side of the family was out of the question. The only way she’d consider it would be if she was wrong and the baby was a boy; she was positive her father would never forgive her for naming it “Lao,” which made the idea all the more appealing. She couldn’t begin to imagine how Katara would react to naming a baby out of spite. _No mother should even think that._

The pain from her bladder had reached a dangerous level. She sighed and laboriously pushed herself off of the daybed. _At least this will fill a few minutes_ , she thought once her feet made contact with the ground. It was that or continuing to torture herself with more thoughts. Toph headed into the hallway towards the bathroom. She could feel Zuko tensing up inside his room, no doubt hearing her pass. Further down she felt Kya jumping up and down on her bed, Bumi curled up in a chair in his room, a pair of acolytes embracing, and a White Lotus sentry opening a window. She could feel Katara and Aang in the master bedroom too, but didn’t let herself focus on them. It felt wrong to intrude, even if there was unlikely to be anything beyond a conversation.

Once inside the bathroom, Toph lowered herself slowly onto the toilet, already dreading standing up again. Movement wasn’t that difficult for her with her so-called ‘low fluid’ pregnancy, but she hardly felt light, always uncomfortably aware of the pressure on her ankles and legs. She wondered how Katara had ever managed three of these, a full baby bump having formed by four months in each case.

When she rose, she felt her muscles in her pelvis tighten. _I’ll have to pee by the time I get back to my room_ , she thought, irritably. She considered just waiting in the bathroom, but that seemed even worse than the prison of her daybed. Instead, she started back up the hallway.

Toph was half-hoping Zuko would allow himself to stay seated in his chair for once, but as soon as she began to approach her own room again, she felt him rise and head towards the doorway. She took a breath.

“Oh, hi Toph,” he said once she must have been in his line of sight. “I just remembered that I forgot to tell you about how Kulitak tried to get our morning meeting pushed to later because he needed to walk his poodle monkey.” The eagerness in his voice was almost painful.

She managed a natural enough laugh. “See and before he told us he had a sparrowkeet.”

“That would explain why Sakiko was so skeptical!”

Toph could almost hear the Fire Nation councilwoman’s admonishments. To her horror she realized she missed them. “At least she never has anything to worry about when Twinkle Toes is around. I’m guess he wouldn’t even consider moving it?”

“Well only Kulitak wanted to,” Zuko answered, his voice suddenly stiff.

She had forgotten how defensive of the Avatar he could be. _What did I expect? He’s the one who commissioned that statue, wasn’t he?_ “Sounds like you have an early day then,” she offered.

Fortunately for her, the Fire Lord took the out, no doubt relieved to save another anecdote for her next bathroom trip. He grunted a goodbye and retreated towards his desk. When Toph got back to her own room, however, she felt Kya sitting on the edge of the bed idly swinging her feet. “What are you doing here?” she asked her once she stepped inside.

“No fair! I wasn’t touching the ground so you can’t see me!”

“The bed touches the ground and you touch the bed,” she pointed out. The child froze at that, in quiet contemplation. Toph felt the odd pressure return to her pelvis, as it had in the bathroom. It seemed ridiculous to go back so soon. _Maybe if I walk Kya back to her room on the way, Zuko won’t feel the need to leave his_.

“What if the bed touches the ground and then I put a book on top of the bed and I sit on the book?”

Toph almost laughed. “We’ll have to test that. Speaking of beds, shouldn’t you be in yours?”

“Mommy and Daddy didn’t ask me to. I think Daddy’s crying again.”

She could think of nothing to say to that. Was she supposed to comfort the child? Isn’t that what parents did? “I’m sure he’s...fine.”

“Bumi says it’s because Tenzin’s not an airbender, but I think waterbending is more interesting, don’t you?” Kya asked, completely unperturbed.

More to buy herself time than anything else, Toph made her way back to the daybed by the window, though as she began to lower herself, she felt something warm and wet trickling down her legs. She stood upright, confused. _Did I just pee on myself?_ When it did not stop, it suddenly dawned on her. “Kya,” she said, trying to remain calm, “I think you should get your mother for me.”

“Why?” she asked, before suddenly hopping off the bed. “Ohhhh. Don’t worry! I can clean it!”

Toph was frozen to the spot, though she suddenly felt the small pool beneath her feet lift into the air. “You know what? You’re right. Waterbending is definitely more interesting. Can you go get your mother now?” She wracked her brains, trying to remember what someone did in this situation. Lie down?

“But it’s working!”

“Kya! My baby’s coming, now. I need your mom!” Toph had said it louder than she intended, though thankfully Kya didn’t seem upset at all.

“I’ll do it! I’ll go get her!”

Toph was left standing in the room, water still slowly running down her leg. _Would it be rude to get this on my bed?_ She didn’t know if there needed to be different sheets used. She wasn’t even certain what was leaking out of her. After only a few seconds of contemplation, she felt Zuko running in.

“Toph! Are you okay? I thought I heard shouting.”

“Just dandy. Hey, when Mai went into labor, did she lie down right away, or was that later?” she asked, trying to make her voice as casual as possible. _I probably have time_ , she figured. She could still feel pressure in her lower abdomen, though there wasn’t pain yet. Babies couldn’t be born without that, she figured.

“Mai? Did she… Labor? You’re...I mean, are you, right now?” Zuko stammered.

“Oh. Uh, yeah. I think so.”

Before Zuko could answer, she heard Katara calling her name in the hallway, until she and Aang came bursting in, Kya on her heels. “What’s going on?” Katara demanded. “Your water broke?”

“She peed on the floor!” Kya insisted.

Toph could feel her face growing hot. Zuko was still frozen by the doorway, barely having moved aside for the others. Aang was wringing his hands, while Kya seemed to crossing the floor in an odd zig-zag, probably searching for more of Toph’s water to bend.

“I think...it’s still breaking,” she said, as Katara reached her and put a hand on her arm. “Or maybe it is pee. I don’t know.” _Maybe they’ll leave if I talk about that_. It was absurd, she knew. She could still feel the slow trickle of water down her thigh, but she suddenly craved solitude more than she ever had in the past couple of weeks.

“Zuko, go down the hall for clean towels,” Katara commanded. “And Aang, get Detchen.” The men left the room without hesitation.

Toph stopped herself from sighing. It seemed to her as though the gender segregation of Air Temple Island was lip-service only; Katara shared a room with Aang in the “boys” dormitory, which naturally meant Kya lived there as well. When Toph had come to move in, it only made sense for her to be under the same roof too. Yet of course the one acolyte who happened to be a midwife needed to stay quartered on the women’s side. The Avatar may have thought he was bringing the Air Nation into the modern age, but never failed to seem stuck in the past. _Unless the past is all he has_ , Toph thought guiltily.

“Let’s get you onto the bed,” Katara said gently.

She had barely reached for Toph’s arm when Bumi came charging into the room. “What’s going on here? Why is everyone in Aunt Toph’s room? Is she gonna earthbend?”

“She’s leaking water!” Kya explained. Toph had to laugh but she heard her friend make an impatient noise.

“Can you two go wait in Bumi’s room?” she asked them, guiding Toph towards the mattress. “I’ll be in to put you to bed as soon as I can, but Aunt Toph’s baby is coming”

“Right now?!” Bumi exclaimed. “Can I name it? I was thinking Bum-Li.”

“That’s a _dumb_ name,” his sister teased.

“Both of you!”

At that moment, Zuko returned to the room, followed by two acolytes. Toph sat herself on the edge of the bed, still unsure what she was supposed to be doing. “I’ve got the towels you need!” he said urgently. “Do I have to lay them out? Do you need them right now?”

“No, Zuko, it’s okay,” Katara told him. “Could you get my bucket of water?” she asked one of the acolytes.

“There’s still some right here, Mommy,” Kya pointed out.

“Water? Does she need healing?” Zuko’s voice was still unnaturally loud.

“What about Bum-Chen?”

“Dhargey, can you please take care of them?”

“Bum-Chen sounds like the name for a pet lemur!”

Toph could feel the spot where she was sitting growing wet. “Can someone just tell me if I need to start pushing?”

Katara turned towards her. “No, you probably—”

“Well then, I hear we have a baby on the way?” a cheerful voice from the doorway called. It belonged to Detchen, who promptly skipped into the room, stopping just shy of where Toph was sitting.

She had only spoken to the midwife a few times, mostly when the woman would pop in on her to ask how she was feeling. It was only Katara that Toph went to with true concerns; Detchen was no doubt capable of delivering a baby, but she was no healer. Sometimes Toph found herself wondering if she would have been better off staying off the island and giving birth at the healing hut. _The safest of all would have been if I stayed in Gao Ling_ , she thought bitterly. Whatever her dad might have put her through, he still would have seen to the finding the best pre-natal healers in the world. Though even if Katara’s expertise was more in battle injuries, Toph was sure she’d at least be able to keep her alive if something were to happen. _And the baby, probably_.

“Where’s Aang?” her friend was now asking.

“Oh he just wanted to check on Tenzin”, Detchen told her. “But what do we have here?”

“Toph’s water broke,” Katara answered before she could get a word in. “But, I don’t know, Toph, have your contractions started?”

“Don’t think so,” she answered. There was something, almost a cramping in her abdomen, but that could just as easily be from the commotion around her.

Detchen gave a tinkling laugh. “You would know, my dear. Chances are the labor will start in a few hours.”

“I thought that’s what water breaking meant.”

“No no,” the midwife said, patting her arm, “normally your water doesn’t break until contractions have been going on for some time. Like when Tenzin was born!”

Toph hadn’t been there for the birth, and it never occurred to her to ask about the specifics of Katara’s contractions. “Sounds like I don’t need all this right now then,” she said, gesturing around the room.

“Oh well, normally you could read a book for a bit and just give a little shout once your contractions start.” Toph struggled not pointing out the fact that she couldn't read, but she kept prattling on. “However, your pregnancy is low-fluid, which means we just need to make extra-sure the baby can still breathe with this. As long as the contractions start soon though, we’ll have nothing to worry about!”

It took just an hour for the contractions to begin, though when they did, they were far less severe than Toph had imagined. By that point, Kya had worn herself out and gone to bed, while Bumi left due to the boredom of not having a baby instantaneously appear. On occasion she could hear a crash coming from down the hall, but the others seemed too flustered to notice. The only child that left in the room was Tenzin, who Zuko had taken into the corner, where he was apparently trying to encourage him to roll over off his back. So far, the baby only liked to go in the other direction, and would then just lie patiently on his back, like an overturned turtle seal, until an adult helped him. Toph couldn’t quite tell how he was doing now; the softness of the mattress made the far end of the room disappear into fuzziness.

What was clear to her was Aang pacing by the foot of the bed. Once he had finally come back in the room, Tenzin in hand, he began asking countless questions of Detchen, most not remotely relevant until the labor started. That’s when Zuko offered to watch his son, though Toph suspected it was more because he was unsure what else to do. After a half hour of Detchen’s enthused answers and Aang’s nagging, Toph took to pacing the floor with him. It was mostly out of boredom, though part of her wondered if it might jiggle the baby loose. That, apparently, had made the Avatar so uncomfortable that he raced from the room, mumbling something about tucking Kya in.

“He gets a little stressed with childbirth,” Katara had explained calmly, from the foot of the bed. “He was like this with both Kya and Tenzin.”

 _He was probably more stressed at the idea of what the baby would be than the childbirth itself_ , Toph figured, though she had kept it to herself. “It’s fine, I know Twinkle Toes is delicate,” she told her friend, though she climbed back onto the mattress anyway. Within ten minutes Aang returned to continue his pacing, and in another ten, her contractions started. She could feel her muscles seizing for what felt like the better part of a minute, but she said nothing, simply grabbing at the bedsheet.

“I think it started; it’s not bad at all,” Toph told the room once it passed, even though was only Katara and the midwife she cared about hearing. “Just feels like when I bleed, though higher or something.”

She heard Zuko clear his throat from the other end of the room, almost drowned out by Detchen’s chuckle. “Give it time!”

“She’s right,” Katara confirmed, rising to her feet. “But now we can at least start timing them. And this means the baby will stay safe, right?”

“Oh yes, it’s all right on schedule!” the midwife confirmed.

Toph felt her annoyance climbing, even though she was unsure why. _It will all be over soon_. “So...what now?”

Detchen stood as well. “Now we wait! I won’t need to look at anything until your contractions are much closer together. We’re in for a long night; I think I’m going to make myself some tea.”

“That sounds...fun,” Toph said, as the woman bustled out of the room. “Look, you all don’t have to be here then. I know it’s getting late.”

“We _want_ to be here for you, Toph,” Aang insisted, even pausing his pacing.

“I think Aang and I can see that the Council meeting gets cancelled tomorrow,” Zuko added.

Katara turned and put a hand on Toph’s shin. “We want to be here. Besides, the distraction will help. When my contractions first started with Tenzin, I made myself read a book. Maybe we can read you something?”

Toph leaned back against the pillows propping her up. “I guess so; it’s not like I’m going anywhere.”

“I brought a book of Uncle’s poetry with me,” Zuko offered, walking towards the base of the bed. Toph could tell he was holding Tenzin.

“No offense, but I think I’ve heard enough of Iroh’s poetry to last me a lifetime,” she answered.

“Maybe something...with more of a narrative would be better,” Katara offered, taking her son from his arms. “Aang, we should put him to bed. We’ll be able to hear him cry if we keep the door open, I think. He won’t be able to get any sleep in here.”

“I can take him,” he told her. “And while I’m in our room, I know just what to grab to read!”

“I’ll go get a couple of chairs out of my room,” Zuko said, leaving with his friend.

Once the women were alone, Katara circled the bed frame to stand closer to Toph’s head. “How are you doing?”

“Just waiting on the next cramp.”

“They may be spread out for a bit. But I meant more—”

“Is the baby born yet?” a voice cried, as Bumi came charging back into the room.

Katara turned to face him. “Why aren’t you in bed?”

“I wasn’t tired.” He barely moved aside when Zuko approached the door carrying two chairs. “What’s that for?”

“We’re going to read Toph a story,” Katara told her son while Zuko set the chairs down, and proceeded to fetch the third by the window to drag it closer. “You can listen for a half an hour, but then I want you in bed, understood?”

“What story?” he asked.

“The Travels of Guru Lhundup!” announced Aang’s voice from the hallway. After another moment he came striding into the room, though Toph could tell he was struggling under the weight of several books.

“Oh no!” Bumi cried. “Mom, I don’t have to listen to this, right?”

“Wow Twinkle Toes...I wasn’t planning on being in labor that long,” Toph said to him as he placed the stack down with a thunk by the foot of her bed.

“The prose really does move quite fast.”

“Bumi,” Katara was saying, “you can either listen to this story for a half an hour, or you can go to bed now.”

“Can’t I go read something interesting?”

“Maybe I should go with you,” Toph joked.

“No, Aang’s right,” Zuko said. “Lhundup traveled the world and wrote a detailed account of it. He was personal friends with Avatar Yangchen, right?”

Bumi stomped his foot. “That’s the guy who talks about leaves all the time.”

“Now Son, I think Toph will appreciate it, though it’s in the fourth volume that his writing really becomes elevated.”

“How many volumes are there?” Toph asked.

“Twelve.”

“Well Bumi,” Katara said, “are you going to stay or go to bed?”

“I’m going to read in _my_ bed.”

She sighed. “That’s fine, but I expect your lights to be off soon.”

“I can start reading the first volume,” Zuko offered once he had left, picking up one of the books before settling into a chair.

“So what, he spends three volumes on each nation?” Toph asked.

“It’s geographical,” Aang explained, taking his own seat. Katara opted to sit back on the foot of the bed, though Toph heard her give a sigh as she did so. “He spends a fair about of times in the caves by the Northern Air Temple, but that’s because he goes through all the monk statues.”

“Well, we might as well begin, then,” she told him.

By the time Toph began what Detchen called “true labor,” Guru Lhundup had made his way through the northern mountains, had spotted the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, and had begun to fill a third volume. Aang was reading a particularly flowery passage about the first goat dog the man had ever come across when a contraction came so intense, she cried out.

“What’s going on?” Zuko asked. He had fallen asleep in his chair during the second half of Volume 2, where the guru had attempted to categorize wind patterns into different types, though he was now sitting up in his chair, a cup of tea in his hand. The island was waking once again, and the acolytes seemed determined to continually barge into Toph’s room to check on the situation.

“It’s...in my back...” Toph managed, gripping the wooden bed frame.

“Oh yes, that happens,” Detchen assured her. “What’s the pain level like though?”

“High,” she managed, her answer sounding almost like a scream. “Very high.”

“It will pass,” Katara told her. “Just remember to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth.”

The pain in her back didn’t seem to subside with the contraction, but the next one that came brought another wave of intense discomfort, so much so that she rolled over onto her side. “You know,” Detchen said, “back labor like this only happens to one in every five women!”

Toph responded with a string of curses, only to be interrupted by Kya racing into the room. “It’s morning, is the baby here?”

“Oh, in a few hours, dear,” Detchen told her.

“Hours?!” The thought made Toph want to cry.

“Isn’t there anything we can do for her?” Zuko asked. “Mai was given something to breathe in that took the pain away...a tube of something.”

“We don’t have that here,” the midwife answered with a shocking coldness in her voice. “Childbirth is a natural process. Though Katara, you might be able to help alleviate some of her back pain with your water.”

“Can I help, Mommy?” Kya asked.

“I think Toph might prefer just me, for now, though you can watch.”

It proved to be only a nominal help, and with each new contraction, Toph felt as though her spine might break. Katara soon put her water back in the bucket, though told Toph she’d be happy to waterbend more if she asked.

Bumi had come into the room after one of her louder screams, and seemed to find her labor far more interesting than the night before, trying to ask her questions about where everything hurt. Katara eventually put Zuko in charge of entertaining him and Kya, though the three of them still stayed in the room. Tenzin, meanwhile, was in the care of a White Lotus guard—apparently one who knew so little about children that he felt the need to keep coming back every fifteen minutes, asking about every minor gurgle.

As the contractions came faster, Detchen had Toph open her legs so she could feel how things were progressing. Toph realized that everyone in the room probably could see as well, but it was difficult to make herself care, even with the random acolytes appearing. _If they’re uncomfortable, they’ll leave_.

“Only a little more to go,” Detchen told her after the White Lotus sentry’s fifth interruption. “Then your bundle of joy will be here so soon.”

Toph fought the urge to curse again. “I...I think I might faint,” she managed in between gasps.

Katara, who was now standing by the headboard, gave her shoulder a squeeze. “You won’t. Your body knows what to do.”

“Do you want me to start reading again, Toph?” Aang asked. She couldn’t quite make him out—between the softness of the mattress and the pain, seemed to just be a blurry figure by the window, though she could tell he was leaning on the sill for support. “Guru Lhundup actually provides a wonderful account of a goat dog giving birth to a litter, and—”

“Aang,” she said through gritted teeth, “if you read me any more about goat dogs, I am going to get out of bed and throw every volume into Yue Bay.”

“Well that wouldn’t be very friendly!” Detchen exclaimed, her hand still in between Toph’s legs.

“I'll throw the books!” Bumi offered from the far side of the room.

“I like the part where he goes to the South Pole,” Kya said.

“Can’t I just push this out yet?” Toph asked, the pain traveling up her spine, to the middle of her back.

Detchen withdrew her arms. “Oh no, it’s just a little too early. You could hurt yourself.”

“Well I wouldn’t want that!”

“Toph, it will be okay,” Katara assured her. “Try breathing again, and on the exhale focus on a different part of your body.” _I should have gone to the Fire Nation,_ Toph thought. _I want whatever Mai had._

“I can get my sword and we can cut it out,” Bumi offered. “Mom once said that happened at the hut.”

“That was an emergency! And not with a sword,” she said sharply.

“Excuse me,” came a voice from the doorway. It belonged to the White Lotus guard. “I gave Tenzin some yams. Does he need to be burped?”

“No, not for solid food,” Aang answered, sounding confused by the question. _Would I have known that?_

“Just think Toph,” Detchen said, “in no time at all you’ll have a little one to feed.”

“Get out,” she heard herself say. Everyone seemed to freeze in place.

“What dear?”

Despite being covered in sweat, Toph suddenly felt cold. The fuzziness of the vibrations seemed to get worse. “Just...I can’t,” she said breathlessly. “I need you to get out, all of you...I can’t. I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m not going to do this anymore.” Her words sounded more and more manic.

“But it’s almost done. We can't stop it.”

“No...no. I’m not going to do this. You all need to get out.”

“Is she sick?” she heard Zuko ask.

“What do we do, Mommy?”

“Listen to her,” Katara said. “Everyone, can you give us a minute?”

No one said a word, but Toph could feel them all shuffle to the door. “It’s okay, I can handle it; I’ll call you when we need you,” she heard Katara say to the midwife. Aang was the last to leave. “It’ll be fine, Sweetie,” his wife assured him, before pulling the door shut.

Once they were alone, Katara went back to where she was standing and put a hand on Toph’s forehead. “Is this pain really that bad?”

“I don’t know...maybe.” She could feel tears mixing with the sweat rolling down her face and wiped angrily one them. “I just can’t do this.”

“You’ve been doing so well, and it really is almost over. The breathing will help, if you just—”

“No...I can’t do any of it.” Toph turned her head away from Katara’s hand. “You were right...you were right about all of it. I’ve been stupid, and selfish, and...I can’t do it.”

“Toph,” Katara began, but at that moment another contraction came, causing Toph to grip her arm.

“You were right,” she repeated once it had subsided. She wondered if she accidentally cut Katara’s skin with her nails. “I've ruined my life, and this is all my fault, too.”

“There’s nothing to blame yourself for.”

“Why didn’t I let Sokka look for Kanto? Or why didn’t I say ‘yes’ to him when he proposed?” The tears were falling freely now. “Why didn’t I just deal with it at my father’s and ask him to take her? That’s what I really went there for, and I should have done it. You know I should have.”

For a moment Katara said nothing, but then took one of her hands in her own. “Look, I know I’ve given you a hard time, especially about you traveling, and...and the father of this child. But you’re going to be fine, I promise.”

“I’m going to be alone.”

“You don’t have to move off of the island until you’re ready. And I’ll be here for anything you need.”

“When, until my kid is old enough to get an apartment?”

“Toph, you’ll never be alone again,” she said, an odd catch in her voice. “The first time you feed your baby, or the first time he—she smiles...you’ll always have that.”

“I won’t _see_ my baby smile, Katara.”

“Sorry...I know. You won’t have to though. You’ll feel the love.”

Toph could feel the pressure building up for another contraction and forced herself to take a breath. “She won’t love me back. I don’t know what I’m doing; I’m not fit to be a mother...” Her last word turned into a scream as the pain shot through her body. She felt Katara circle the bed to check on what was happening, but once the contraction had waned, she moved back to her side.

“You don’t have to know what you’re doing right away,” she told her. “No one does. I was convinced I’d accidentally kill Bumi during the first few months. You’ll figure it out.”

“But I didn’t even know I was pregnant for six months! What kind of a mother doesn’t realize that?”

“Toph, why did you turn down everyone’s help? Kanto’s, your father’s... Sokka’s?”

Toph shrugged, almost wishing another contraction would interrupt them. “It wouldn’t have been right.”

“Exactly. Whether you realize it or not, you’ve been thinking about what’s best for your baby for months. Putting her ahead of everything else.”

“Most of my decisions have been selfish,” she protested.

“Do you really believe that?” Katara asked. “Because it sounds to me like you’re raising her alone since the other possibilities weren’t right, like you said. Her needs are yours right now.” She took her hand again. “You know there’s times I feel alone... But you’ll see; it’s never lonely. Your heart is in the right place. Whatever I’ve said these past few months, I mean that.”

Toph didn’t bother trying to wipe away the tears. “I’m going to have to push her out now, aren’t I?”

“Very soon,” she confirmed with a laugh. “I need to bring Detchen back in. The others can wait.”

“I’m ready to kick her in the face.”

“Then I’ll tell her only to talk when it’s necessary. Are you ready?”

As if on cue, another contraction began, vibrating up her spine, pressure mounting in her abdomen. “You’re talking to Toph Beifong. I’m always ready.”

After over an hour of pushing, it was hard to claim that the sentiment remained, but she was well past caring. When Detchen announced that the baby was out, Toph barely registered what was being said. Her entire world had become a wash of pain, and sweat, and whatever else was coming out of her that she didn’t want to think about. She doubted the towels Zuko brought would have been sufficient. “She’s looking healthy!” the midwife declared, her words warped and mixed with a baby’s cry.

Katara said something about “beautiful,” but it sounded far away. Toph couldn’t even make out her friend’s blurry shape anymore. The pain in her back had all but left, though she could still feel her muscles seizing. “Where is she?” Toph heard herself ask.

“Let’s just wipe her down—”

“I don’t care!” she insisted. Detchen said nothing, though took another minute before placing a warm lump onto Toph’s chest.

Katara covered her with a blanket. “I’ll cut the cord in a minute,” she said calmly. “It’s over though. You did it!”

“Well, there’s the rest,” Toph heard Detchen mumble. She put an arm on top of the baby’s head, still feeling disoriented.

“Did you think of a name?” Katara asked, ignoring the midwife.

“Lin.” The answer came so naturally that for a moment she was worried it was someone Guru Lhundup met in the mountain passes. _It feels right._

Katara soon left the room to tell the others, before returning to cut the cord. Toph felt like she would never be able to move again, but somehow found the strength to sit up and allow Lin to feed. Detchen told her it was very good that she was able to within the first hour.

After a little longer, Toph allowed Katara to finish cleaning the baby, while she stood so Detchen could switch the towels. Once she was settled back on the bed, Lin wrapped in a blanket in her arms, she told Katara that everyone else could come in.

It was Bumi and Kya who reached her first. “Can she earthbend?” Kya immediately asked. Toph hadn’t the slightest clue, but it couldn’t have mattered less to her in that moment.

“She has a really large head!” Bumi commented. “You pushed that out?”

Zuko came next, with his stiff congratulations, and finally Aang, holding Tenzin. “Well, what do you think, should he meet her? She’ll practically be his cousin.”

Toph laughed. “Why not?” She hadn’t thought before about how close in age they’d be; she wondered how different her childhood would have been with a friend.

Aang leaned down to let the six-month-old get a closer look. He gave an approving “bah” before suddenly beginning to sniff. His father pulled Tenzin back up in time so that the sneeze missed Lin, but there was no mistaking the rush of air that rippled across her blanket.


End file.
